Smriti Mandhana: The smile masks the steel as she joins 10,000-club

The signature smile of Smriti Mandhana often masks the steel in her personality – though there has been no mistaking her class for the past decade or so. Last evening at Thiruvananthapuram, the Indian vice-captain took a firm step to enter the pantheon of modern greats in women’s cricket as she became the fastest to reach the 10,000-run barrier in international cricket across formats.

A look at the previous three members of the elite club tells it’s own story – Smriti’s former captain Mithali Raj, Suzie Bates of New Zealand and Charlotte Edwards of England. It took her 10 matches less than Mithali to reach the landmark, and it’s a matter of time before the India vice-captain crosses her compatriot’s 10,868-run mark to become the highest rungetter among active women’s cricketers. Nat Sciver-Brunt, the current England captain, still has some catching up to do at 8,197 runs.

It had been an extraordinary year for Smriti on the pitch even by her exacting standards – as she had been one of the most consistent batters since her international debut a as a callow 16-year-old in a T20I against Bangladesh at home in 2013. While lifting India’s maiden ICC World Cup trophy at Navi Mumbai on November 2 was easily the high point of the two-time ICC Cricketer of the Year, her personal life suddenly came under the scanner of an often irresponsible social media when Smriti’s much publicised wedding to singer-composer Palash Muchhal was called off at the last minute later that month.

Much as Smriti and her support team from managers Baseline Ventures wanted the fans to respect the family’s privacy – there was no end to speculations as she had been the most marketable face in the sport. There was no doubt that Mandhana’s family was hurting, and it was not an easy task for her to come back in public gaze in a promotional event where she professed that the sport was her ‘first love’ and nothing gave her greater pleasure than wearing the national colours.

The ongoing five-match T20I series against Lanka at home, which the hosts are already up 4-0 with the last game coming up tomorrow, could not have come at a better time for her. After failing to get right starts in the first three games, a factor which she contributed to ‘’change of formats’’ after the T20 World Cup, Smriti was back to her fluent self to ease to a 80 off 48 deliveries on Sunday to keep her date with the record.   

With 5322 runs in WODI cricket, 4022 runs in WT20Is, and 629 runs in her seven Test matches, Mandhana took 281 international appearances to reach the mark – beating her former captain to the record.

Smriti now has 17 centuries across all formats, with two in Tests and one in the 20-over format, but her mastery over the ODI format is self-explanatory with 14 tons - with nine of those coming in the last two years. No wonder, she was awarded the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year thrice (2018, 2021 and 2024) alongwith the top award in 2018 and 2021.

Now 29, Smriti still has plenty of cricket left in her and it’s a matter of time that she takes over the reins of at least the Test and ODI captaincy from Harmanpreet Kaur, if not all three formats. Given the cliché that a batter’s best years often lie between 28 and 35 years, she is tipped conquer more peaks along the way – the motivation, form and fitness permitting.

Most runs in women's international cricket

Mithali Raj (IND): 10,868 runs

Suzie Bates (NZ): 10,652 runs

Charlotte Edwards (ENG): 10,273 runs

Smriti Mandhana (IND): 10,053 runs

Nat Sciver-Brunt (ENG): 8,197 runs