Smriti Mandhana is even better than you think she is
**Smriti Mandhana: The Complete Batter You're Underestimating** Fellow cricket fans, let's talk about Smriti Mandhana, because the numbers tell a story even better than the headlines. **The Delhi Masterclass (That Still Gives Me Chills)** A year ago at the Kotla, Australia piled on 412 with Beth Mooney's 138. Journalists were already off snacking, expecting a blowout. But Mandhana took the field and the room emptied back in. 50 off 23. Then a hundred, breaking Kohli's 12-year record for the fastest Indian ODI ton. She finished 125 off 63. India lost by 43, but nobody forgot that innings. **The Numbers Behind the Magic** This isn't a flash in the pan—her growth is staggering across formats: - **ODI:** Avg 30 (2013-17) → 53 (2018-24) → 58 (2025+). SR climbing alongside, not dropping. - **T20I:** From a mere 96.58 SR hitting 3 sixes in 27 innings, to 140.21 SR since Jan 2025. Boundary frequency has tripled. - **Test:** Avg 57.87 since Jan 2023, headlined by that beautiful 149 vs South Africa. She's got the red-ball patience too. Since January 2025: 2,539 runs across formats, 7 hundreds. Her ODI tally of 1,362 is the most by any woman in a calendar year. **Where She Ranks Among Peers** Since Jan 2025, she's the standout in the elite all-format group: - **ODIs:** Only 4 batters average 50+ with SR 100+ — Healy, Gardner, Mandhana, Litchfield. She's up there with Wolvaardt on runs. - **T20Is:** Just 3 batters hit 2 hundreds at 140+ SR — Mandhana joins Kerr and Wolvaardt. - **Tests:** Only Mandhana and Beth Mooney appear in all three format comparisons. That's the real differentiator. **The Big Picture** Interesting trend: while men's cricket is pushing hard towards format specialisation, women's game still has a strong group of true all-format players — Healy, Gardner, Perry, Devine, Knight, Sciver-Brunt too. But Mandhana's ODI consistency + aggressive T20I game + solid Test returns sets her apart. Beyond stats, she's become the new face of Indian women's cricket post-Goswami/Raj. The captaincy pressure is mounting, but she's proven she can carry it. **My take?** She's not just a great batter—she's arguably the best all-format woman batter of this era. What do you all think? 👇 *Source: Wisden* Source: Wisden
