Smriti Mandhana, finest on the ODI stage

Her strokes ooze grace. At the crease, she exudes the type of elegance often associated with a left-hand batter.
For over a decade, she’s been a beacon of hope for India’s women’s cricket, blending her craft with class and conviction. Last year, the dismal show in the ICC T20 World Cup notwithstanding, Smriti Mandhana validated her status as one of the finest on the world stage. It’s fitting that the 28-year-old from Madhavnagar, Sangli is the ICC’s Women’s ODI Player of the Year.
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Smriti scored 747 runs in 13 One-Dayers in 2024, finishing ahead of Laura Wolvaardt (697; South Africa), Tammy Beaumont (554; England) and Hayley Matthews (469; West Indies) in the ODI runs tally for 2024. She owned the stage on home turf, scoring back-toback centuries in the 3-0 rout of South Africa in June and following it up with a decisive 122-ball 100 against New Zealand in Oct.
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Smriti didn’t just boss at home, she offered a silver lining to India’s One-Day series Down Under in Dec. Her defiant 105 in the third ODI at the WACA came with a promise of more, which she has lived up to in the New Year.
The century in Perth, albeit in a losing cause, came at one of the most testing times for both the team and the opener. Her 109-ball innings, which was highlighted by 14 hits to the ropes and one over it, came after two disappointing appearances at the crease in the first two ODIs in Brisbane, where she returned 8 and 9 respectively.
Smriti, who came into focus in 2013 when she scored a record unbeaten 150-ball 224 for Maharashtra against Gujarat in the West Zone U-19 tournament in Vadodara, had a watershed 2024, with her four centuries being the most in a year in women’s ODIs. She averaged 57.46 at 95.15.
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The most expensive Women’s Premier League player at Rs 3.4 cr who led Royal Challengers Bangalore to their maiden title last year, Smriti has shown growth and form underlined by maturity. In 2024, she married her talent with consistency and became the youngest, at 28 years and 146 days, to get to 8000 international runs, more than half of which have come in ODIs.