Cricketer Smriti Mandhana
Image: Neha Mithbawkar for Forbes India; Imaging: Kapil Kashyap
When Smriti Mandhana used to play cricket as a child, she was the designated limbu-timbu (the weak one, in Marathi). It worked great for Mandhana since the rules of gully cricket mandated her to skip bowling and fielding and bat for both the teams. “Batting toh pyar hai [batting is sheer love],” the southpaw had told Forbes India in an earlier interview. “…[hence] being the weakest link worked to my advantage.”
The rigours of international cricket yield no such privilege to Mandhana, now the vice captain of the national team. But give her the bat and you’ll know why, even at 28, the love story endures.
In 2024, Mandhana was the year’s highest scorer in one-day internationals (ODIs) and T20Is (747 and 763 runs, respectively), as well as the most prolific run-getter in the women’s game—her aggregate of 1,659 across three formats (Test included) was the highest ever scored by a woman cricketer in a year.
During this period, she notched five centuries—four of them scored in ODIs hold the record for the highest in the women’s game in a year. And, with 10 overall in the 50-over format, she eclipsed Mithali Raj’s record of scoring the highest number of centuries by an Indian in ODIs. Her 2024 exploits earned Mandhana the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award, making her the first Indian to win it twice.
Click here for the full list
“In the first four to five years of her career, her aim was to be effective at the top. Then she adapted to sustain the success,” says WV Raman, former Indian player who coached the women’s national team between 2018 and 2021. Raman recalls how Mandhana had become easy prey for off-spinners (who turn the ball away from left-handers) or spinners in the powerplay. “She was too good a player to fall into a similar trap every time,” says Raman. “So, she improved upon a range of shots on the leg side. It’s made it that much more difficult for bowlers to dismiss her.”
Mandhana’s prowess on the field has manifested into soaring brand equity off it: Her endorsement tally has crossed 30 in the year, nearly double of what it was two years ago. In 2024 alone, she added 15 deals to her portfolio, leading to a 50 percent rise in her earnings year-on-year. At `2.5 crore to `3 crore per brand, her endorsement fees have also jumped 2X in a year.
Also read: Smriti Mandhana: Willow and grace
Yet, Mandhana wears her fame lightly. In her words, she feels uncomfortable being treated as a star. “My school friends have no idea what I do. Sometimes they’ll read my Instagram posts and tell me, ‘I guess you performed well today’. And that’s the way I prefer it to be,” she had told Forbes India.
Her down-to-earth demeanour rubs off on her cricket as well. “When you speak to her, you won’t think you are speaking to ‘Smriti Mandhana’,” says Raman. That makes it easy for newcomers in the team to reach out to her, making her a bridge between them and captain Harmanpreet Kaur who, while being equally accessible, remains one of the senior-most figures in Indian cricket. “It helps Mandhana when she captains a side in Kaur’s absence—she knows the teammates really well. And that makes her the perfect ally for Kaur,” Raman adds.
Her equanimity played out well in the see-saw seasons of the Women’s Premier League where she captained the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB); while Mandhana led RCB to the title in Season 2 last year, the team finished second-last in the recently-concluded third season. “We had five losses in a row in 2025, yet managed to beat [eventual champions] Mumbai Indians in the last match. She kept the team together even when the chips were down,” says Luke Williams, RCB’s coach.
“The consistency with which she approaches each game is outstanding. She doesn’t get too high if she has a great day, nor does she go too low if things don’t go her way. It’s a great quality to have as a leader,” adds Williams. “As for herself, she is a hard worker who thinks deeply about the game. There are times when the rest of the team might not even know when Smriti has gone for an extra hit, or a targeted practice session.”
Where does Mandhana go from here? With both time and age on her side, she would have set her sights on owning some of the top statistics in international cricket. And her role as the second-in-command to skipper Kaur will have forged her for the top post when the time arrives. “[That apart], from now on, it’s a case of her fighting with herself and setting her own benchmarks,” says Raman. “She has carved a niche in international cricket. Now it’s for her to decide which summit to scale from here on.”
(This story appears in the 18 April, 2025 issue
of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
