Smriti Mandhana is the captain of the Women's Premier League team, Royal Challengers Bangalore and vice-captain of the India women's national team. Considered as one of the best opening batters in women's international cricket, Smriti has a series of exceptional records to her name. From 6th most runs (911) in an ODI series, 4th most ODI nineties (4) in career, 9th most hundred in an ODI series (2) to 5th fastest to 3000 runs in just 122 balls in ODI, Smriti is hands-down a nightmare for almost every bowler out there.
The 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup will kick off on October 3, 2024, and team India will play their first match against New Zealand a day later, on October 4. Ahead of the women's team's crucial match against New Zealand, all eyes are on the side's explosive batter, Smriti Mandhana. During a recent press conference, Smriti opened up about the prospect of being placed in Group A alongside teams like Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. The ace cricketer clearly stated that she and her teammates are excited to give their everything in this year's T20 World Cup.
Apart from Smriti Mandhana, all eyes will be on the side's captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, who shares a beautiful bond with every cricketer in the team. Smriti and Harmanpreet are the two key players in the Indian women's team, who will carry the hopes of a billion people courtesy of their incredible contribution to the women's cricket. Apart from these two, we have the likes of Renuka Thakur, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, and Richa Ghosh, who are pumped to make their mark at the 2024 ICC Women's T20 World Cup.
The captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore, Smriti Mandhana was born on July 18, 1996, in Chennai to her parents, Shrinivas Mandhana and Smita Mandhana. The cricketer belongs to a Marwari family but speaks Marathi fluently because she spent most of her growing years in Mumbai. Smriti was just two years old when her family shifted from Chennai to Mumbai.
Ace cricketer, Smriti Mandhana completed her schooling from Mumbai's Shardarshan Vidyamandir School. After that, she pursued a B.Com degree from GS Medical College. For the unversed, Smriti's father, Shrinivas and her brother, Shravan Mandhana have played cricket at the district level. Due to her father being a player at the district level and her brother also following in his footsteps, Smriti started playing cricket right from an early age.
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During her appearance on the game reality show, Kaun Banega Crorepati, Smriti Mandhana opened up about how she stepped into the world of cricket. Revealing the foundation of her dream to become a cricketer and play for India, Smriti revealed that her father, Shrinivas played at the district level, and it was his dream to see one of his children play cricket for India. Opening up about the same, she said:
"From their childhood, my father and brothers were cricketers. My father didn't get permission to pursue cricket as a profession. So, he wanted both of their kids to play cricket and hoped for one of them to represent India. So, I have listened about cricket from my childhood, maybe since when I was in my mother's womb."
Further in her conversation on Kaun Banega Crorepati, Smriti Mandhana also revealed that she was a right-hander at the beginning. She further added that after practising with her brother, Shravan Manndhana, who is a left-hander, she became a left-hand batter like him. Opening more about her cricket journey, she said:
"I also used to go for practice, pick up balls for my brother. I learnt to bat by standing behind him in the nets. I am right-handed, but because my brother is left-handed, I learnt to bat left-handed from him. I used to stand behind him and watch him bat. So, that's how I started my cricket journey."
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In men's cricket, while Virat Kohli is the one, who is considered as India's number one player, Smriti Mandhana is of the same stature as him in women's cricket. Both Virat and Smriti are hailed as Indian cricket's 'King' and 'Queen', courtesy of their respective contribution in terms of runs and captaincy. However, not everyone is aware that Virat and Smriti share a friendly bond with each other, and the latter refers to him as 'Bhaiya'.
A glimpse of the same, everyone saw on March 17, 2024, when Royal Challengers Bangalore won the 2024 Women's Premier League. During the celebrations, RCB's captain, Smriti Mandhana could be seen talking to Virat Kohli via video call, and a picture of the cutesy moment broke the internet in no time. For the unversed, Smriti and Virat wear the same jersey number, 18, and once, in an interview with BCCI TV, Smriti revealed that she wasn't aware of the fact that Virat also has the number 18 jersey. She said:
"I initially wanted the number 7 because that was my roll number in school. But that was not available. Then I was recommended taking the 18 number because it is also my birthday (18th July). I didn't know then that Virat bhaiya has the same number."
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Soon after winning the 2024 Women's Premier League, Smriti Mandhana's picture with her alleged boyfriend, Palaash Muchhal made its way to the internet. Once again, all the reports of them dating each other started doing rounds in the media corridors. For the unversed, Smriti and Palash have been each other's biggest cheerleaders for some time now. Time and again, we have seen proofs of the same in the form of cutesy pictures on their respective social media handles.
For the unversed, Palaash Muchhal is the brother of famous singer, Palak Muchhal, who is considered as one of the most successful singers of this era. Talking about Palaash's profession, he is a music composer, who actively works as a philanthropist. At the mere age of 18, Palaash started working in the Hindi film industry as a music composer and became the youngest composer in Bollywood. We hope to see more of Palaash and Smriti together if there's really something between them as per the latter's massive fanbase, which never misses a chance to ignite their relationship rumours.
Well, we are extremely proud of Smriti Mandhana and we hope she continues winning titles and breaking records on her journey as a cricketer.
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