Smriti Mandhana Breaks Records, Hopes To Inspire More Girls To Play

DUBAI — Smriti Mandhana’s historic 124 against Hong Kong-China in the Women’s T20 Asia Cup rewrote several women’s cricket records, but the India vice-captain says her proudest achievement would be encouraging more young girls to take up the sport.

Mandhana’s 64-ball knock, which included 14 fours and seven sixes, powered India to 193/5 before the bowlers dismissed Hong Kong-China for 56, giving India a 137-run victory.

The 30-year-old surpassed former India captain Mithali Raj’s 10,868 international runs to become the leading run-scorer in women’s international cricket. Her 18th international century also made her the leading century-maker across formats, taking her past Meg Lanning. Her score was additionally the highest individual total in Women’s T20 Asia Cup history, surpassing Chamari Athapaththu’s unbeaten 119 against Malaysia in 2024.

The innings also made Mandhana the first Indian woman to score multiple T20I centuries and gave her the highest individual T20I score by an Indian woman.

ICC Chairman Jay Shah congratulated Mandhana, praising her “elegance, consistency and sheer hard work” and saying she had helped redefine aspirations for young girls and boys in India and around the world.

For Mandhana, however, personal milestones have never been the ultimate measure of her career.

“I always felt this is my job. I never thought of anything else than records and numbers and the amount of matches you win for India. That is a measure which you take back; you don’t take back how many runs or records you’ve broken,” she said in a video released by the BCCI.

“If anything of mine could inspire even like 10% girls to pick up a bat and ball and start playing cricket, I feel that would be something which I’ll always be proud and happy about,” she said.

The achievement was particularly significant because Mandhana grew up watching and idolizing Mithali.

“I never in my dreams ever imagined that I would get 10,000 and go past her,” she said.

Mandhana also said she does not consider herself a complete batter, noting that cricket will always expose areas for improvement. Her continued work on her six-hitting was evident in the Hong Kong-China match, where she cleared the boundary seven times.

Her consistency and preparation were also praised by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach Malolan Rangarajan, who said the milestone was the product of the standards Mandhana maintains every day.

“What stands out about Smriti isn’t just the runs — it’s the sheer consistency of showing up, series after series, at the very top of her game for so many years,” Rangarajan said.

India all-rounders Arundhati Reddy and Radha Yadav also praised Mandhana’s leadership, preparation and ability to set an example for her teammates.

Mandhana, who captains RCB and has led the franchise to two Women’s Premier League titles, has scored 1,023 runs in 35 innings for the franchise. (IANS)