Smriti Mandhana grew up hearing the sound of cricket long before the world knew her name. She followed her brother to his practice sessions and began spending time around the game.
Born on 18 July 1996 in Mumbai, she grew up in a family where cricket was part of daily life. By 2000, she was spending full days at the nets, picking up balls for hours. A few months later, her father began training her. Though she was right-handed, he trained her to bat left-handed.
Training soon became a six-hour routine each day. In 2005, she was selected for Maharashtra’s Under-15 team. In 2013, she scored a double hundred in a One-Day game, the first by an Indian woman. She scored it using Rahul Dravid’s practice bat, which he had given her.
On her way up, some relatives and neighbours said women should not play. Her parents continued to support her.
In 2017, a ligament tear during bowling put her career at risk. She returned within months and made it to the World Cup squad in the same year. In 2018, she won the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year award. She won it again in 2021.
During the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, she started a YouTube show with Jemimah Rodrigues. She has said she enjoyed cooking and wanted to start a restaurant chain.
In 2024, she finished with the most international runs by any woman in a calendar year. The same year, she led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a Women’s Premier League title. In 2025, she scored her 11th ODI hundred in a tri-series final against Sri Lanka, becoming the first Indian woman to score centuries in all three formats.
In 2025, she announced her engagement to music composer Palash Muchhal. The wedding was postponed after her father suffered a heart attack a day before the ceremony.
