Why is Smriti Mandhana the best modern-day batter in women’s cricket right now?

Smriti Mandhana, one of the greatest batters in cricket, has no shortage of records to her name.

Throughout her career, she has broken quite a few records. The left-handed batter made her international debut in 2013, on April 5th, in a T20I against Bangladesh. Just five days later, she went on to make her ODI debut on the 10th of April, 2013, against Bangladesh. A year later, in 2014, Smriti made her test debut against England at Wormsley, where she went on to score a 50 on debut.

Her maiden ODI century came against Australia in 2016, when she scored 102 out of 109 deliveries.

Smriti is also the captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women in the Women’s Premier League. She won them their first title in 2024, and since then, a lot of fans consider her to be the ‘cursebreaker’ for the franchise, as the men’s team went on to win their first title just a year later, after seventeen years of waiting. RCB’s second title in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) came this year.

Mandhana is the first Indian woman to have scored a century in all three formats. She also broke Belinda Clark’s 28-year-old record of most international runs in a calendar year in 2024, when she scored 1659 runs.

Let’s take a look at how many runs she has scored till now across formats:

Smriti Mandhana’s T20I Records:

171 Matches

Runs – 4538

Highest – 112

Strike Rate – 125.18

50s – 35

100s – 1

Smriti Mandhana’s ODI Records:

120 Matches

Runs – 5411

Average – 47.88

50s – 35

100s – 14

Smriti Mandhana’s Test Records:

9 Matches

16 Innings

Runs – 788

Average – 52.53

50s – 2

100s – 2

If we were to take a look at Mandhana’s records, it would be a pretty big list, which speaks about the talent and skill she possesses and continues to upgrade herself every year.

Records and Achievements:

1. Second cricketer after Australia’s Ellyse Perry to win the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year award (Rachael Heyhoe Flint Award) twice
2. Joint-fastest T20 50 in women’s cricket with New Zealand’s Sophie Devine (18 balls)
3. Fastest T20I 50 by an Indian woman (23 balls)
4. Fastest ODI 100 by an Indian woman (50 balls)
5. Second Indian woman to score 3000 runs in T20I cricket
6. Fastest Indian woman to score 4000 runs in ODI cricket
7. Youngest and fastest to reach 5000 runs in women’s ODI cricket
8. Second-highest Indian run scorer in women’s ODIs after Mithali Raj
9. First Indian woman to score an ODI and Test century in Australia
10. First Indian woman to score a double century in 50-over cricket (Maharashtra vs Gujarat)
11. Commonwealth Games 2022 silver medal winner
12. Asian Games 2023 gold medal winner
13. Led RCB to WPL 2024 title
14. ODI World Cup 2025 winner
15. Most ODI centuries (4) scored in a single calendar year in women’s cricket
16. First Indian woman with centuries across all three formats
17. Most ODI runs scored in a single calendar year in women’s cricket
18. First player to score more than 1000 runs in women’s ODIs in a calendar year
19. Named in TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in Sports 2026

It’s not too much to assume that in a few years, Smriti might just be considered one of the all-time greats in the history of the sport, and not just in women’s cricket. She has already shown the talent she possesses, and her absolute best is yet to come.