smriti mandhana
Mandhana was born on 18 July 1996 in Mumbai to Smita and Shrinivas Mandhana.[3][4] When she was aged two, the family shifted to Sangli in Maharashtra, where she completed her schooling. Both her father, and brother, Shravan, played cricket at the district-level, for Sangli. She was inspired to take up cricket after watching her brother play at the Maharashtra state Under-16s tournaments. At the age of nine, she was selected in the Maharashtra's Under-15 team. At eleven, she was picked for the Maharashtra Under-19s team.[5]
Mandhana's family is closely involved in her cricketing activities. Her father Shrinivas, a chemical distributor, takes care of her cricket programme, her mother Smita is in charge of her diet, clothing and other organisation aspects, and her brother Shravan still bowls to her in the nets.
In a historic moment for women’s cricket in India, Indian batswoman Smriti Mandhana became the only Indian cricketer to be named in the Women’s Team of the Year 2016, as per an announcement made by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Dubai
nternational hall of fame for women’s cricket, the ‘Women’s Team of the Year’ is a new and novel award to acknowledge and appreciate the top performers in cricket in a 12-month period starting in September of the previous year.
Mumbai-born-and Sangli-raised Smriti was born to a district-level player, her father, and also had a brother who played professionally at the same level. This is what inspired her to turn to the sport, at a very young age. By the time she was nine, she had honed her skills enough to be selected in Maharashtra’s Under-15 team. At eleven, she was picked for the Maharashtra Under-19 team.
What put her on the map domestically was her unbeaten 224 off 150 balls in an ODI against Gujarat, in the West Zone Under-19 Tournament held at Vadodara.
As for her stellar run in Australia, she scored her maiden hundred (102 off 109 balls), albeit being in the losing team, in the second ODI of India’s tour.
Earlier this year, Mandhana became the second India, after Harmanpreet Kaur, to sign for a one-year deal with Brisbane Heat for the Women’s Big Bash League.
