Smriti Mandhana began playing cricket at a very young age and yesterday she achieved a massive milestone after getting appointed as the captain
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India’s Smriti Mandhana plays a shot during the women’s T20 cricket final against Sri Lanka at the Asian Games 2026, at Korogi Sports Park, in Nisshin, Japan on Tuesday, September 22, 2026(Photo: IANS/Biplab Banerjee)
After Harmanpreet Kaur announced her decision to give up on India women’s cricket team captaincy, opening batter Smriti Mandhana was appointed as the Indian captain, bringing Harmanpreet’s 10-year tenure to an endHarmanpreet left the role weeks after winning gold at the 2026 Asian Games.
Smriti Mandhana has previously captained the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Women’s Premier League.
Under her leadership, the franchise won its first-ever Indian Premier League title across both men’s and women’s competitionsSmriti Mandhana guided RCB to the 2024 and 2026 WPL titles and these achievements were enough for the team management to appoint the left-hand batter as the captain.
Mandhana will kickstart her captaincy tenure on Friday, October 16 with a home three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe.
Mandhana will have a very busy schedule ahead with the Indian team also slated for an all-format tour of South Africa, where the women in blue will play a one-off Test, three ODIs and T20Is eachIt will be interesting to see how the team adapts in accordance to the new captain.
Smriti Mandhana’s background
Smriti Mandhana was born on July 18, 1996 in Mumbai to a regular household familyHer father worked as a chemical distributor while her mother was a homemakerSmriti’s father Shrinivas Mandhana is extremely passionate about cricket and her brother Shravan even played U-19 cricket for the Maharashtra state team.
It was her father and brother who inspired Smriti to take up the sport by the age of 9, she started playing age representing Maharashtra at the U-15 level before getting picked for the U-19 team two years later.
On October 2013, Mandhana became the first Indian woman to score a double hundred in List A cricket, scoring 224 off 150.
Smriti Mandhana made her national team debut in April 2013 at the age of just 16 during India’s tour of Bangladesh, which is where she made her WODI and WT20I debutsA year later in August 2014, Mandhana made her women’s Test debut against England.
Her first one-day century came against Australia in 2016, scoring 102 off 109 in a losing causeShe was also named in that year’s ICC Women’s Team of the YearMandhana has been one of India’s leading cricketers over the past few years and the captaincy will add a new chapter in her career.
Smriti Mandhana’s Education
Smriti Mandhana balanced cricket and studies very well and completed her schooling from a local school in SangliShe also holds a commerce degree from the Chintaman Rao College of Commerce.
Smriti Mandhana’s net worth
Smriti Mandhana has a whopping net worth of around INR 32-40 crores, thanks to her lucrative contracts from the BCCI and RCB in WPLShe earns about 3.4 crores per year from the Bengaluru franchise, 50 lakh plus match fees annually under BCCI’s Grade A contract.
She earns INR 15 lakhs per Test, 6 lakhs per ODI and 3 lakhs per T20I matchesMandhana is also a favourite personality for brandsShe does endorsements for brands like Nike, Gulf Oil, Wrangler, Red Bull, Hero MotoCorp, Bata and the Leela Hotels.
Smriti Mandhana achievements and stats
Smriti Mandhana has received multiple honours, including the Best International Cricketer and Cricketer of the year in 2018 BCCI awardsShe has also won the Women’s ODI player of the year at the ICC awards and is also a recipient of the prestigious Arjuna Award.
Last year, she won the Leading Cricketer in the World award at the Wisden awardsWith the Indian team, Smriti Mandhana has won the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup, two Asian Games gold medals in 2022 and 2026 and three Asia Cup titles in 2016, 2022 and 2026.
Overall in her international career, Mandhana has scored 11,066 runs across the three formatsShe has 788 runs from nine Test matches, 5411 runs in 120 one-day internationals and 4867 runs from 179 outings in the shortest format.
