There’s being “in form,” and then there’s being in the zone, that surreal mental groove where batting looks less like survival and more like art. The numbers are absurd: over 2000 ODI runs since June 2024, averaging 62.84 with a strike rate of 105.12, feats no woman has ever achieved in such a span.
At 28, the left-hander from Sangli is doing what most players only manage in the twilight of their prime. India’s vice-captain isn’t just scoring runs; she’s reshaping the statistical and aesthetic ceiling of women’s cricket. As India gears up for their biggest home-stage clash, Smriti Mandhana stands not merely as their leading batter but as the embodiment of what modern batting mastery looks like.
When Form Becomes Legacy
Every era gets a player who doesn’t just dominate, they distort the scale by which others are judged. From Belinda Clark’s double ton to Meg Lanning’s calculated precision, each phase of women’s cricket had its gold standard. Mandhana has now set her own.
Her nine ODI hundreds in 33 innings surpass anything achieved before, eclipsing even the prolific stretches of Lanning and Tazmin Brits. No other batter has crossed 2000 ODI runs in such a span, not even Clark during her 1999–2000 rampage. More strikingly, Mandhana has contributed 23% of India’s total ODI runs in this period, a dominance level bordering on monopolistic.
What’s most fascinating is how effortless it looks. Her cover drives retain the same silken flow, her tempo never seems forced, and yet the results are seismic. She’s cracked the rare code of making aggression look graceful and consistency look casual.
Against Australia, She Writes Her Own Folklore
Some players rise with the stage; Mandhana owns it. Her last five ODI knocks against Australia read like a batting manual with intent: 105, 58, 117, 125, and 80. These weren’t hollow hundreds; they came in pressure cauldrons, each carrying a distinct storyline.
The 117 in Chandigarh handed Australia their heaviest ODI defeat. The 125 off 63 in Delhi was pure carnage, the fastest ODI century ever by an Indian. Even the 80 in Visakhapatnam, overshadowed by bigger scores, was the base for one of India’s rare 300+ totals against the world’s best bowling unit.
If there’s a metric for “rising to the occasion,” Mandhana breaks it every time she faces the gold-and-green. On Thursday, she could become the first batter in women’s ODI history to notch six consecutive 50+ scores against a single opponent.
Seam or Spin, She’s Got Both on a Leash
Mandhana’s genius lies in her balance, not just in footwork, but in adaptability. Against pace, she averages 78.85 at a strike rate of 102.6; against spin, 60.46 at 108.36. That dual domination places her in a league of just five players who’ve scored faster than a run-a-ball against both, and she’s the only one averaging over 50 against each.
There’s an almost surgical precision to her shot selection now. Her back-foot punch off pace mirrors her inside-out loft over cover against spin. In a game increasingly polarized by specialization, Mandhana is redefining what all-round batting skill looks like.
Completing the Format Hat-Trick
The one thing Mithali had been missing from her career resume for many years was a T20I century; that was solved with a 112 from 62 balls in Nottingham, England, in June of 2025. Almost exactly one year after she scored a Test hundred in Chennai, India. In about 366 days, she was able to join an elite group of women who have hit centuries in each of the three major forms of cricket, along with Tammy Beaumont, Heather Knight, Beth Mooney, and Laura Wolvaardt.
The feat itself is impressive; the timing, poetic. It came when she already seemed complete, only to reveal there was yet another gear.
The Year of Records, Rewritten
By mid-2025, Mandhana wasn’t just batting for India; she was rewriting cricket’s statistical architecture.
- 1293 ODI runs in 2025, the first-ever 1000+ calendar-year tally in women’s ODIs.
- Five hundred this year, second only to Tazmin Brits’ record-breaking spree.
- 111.75 strike rate bettered only by Lizelle Lee’s explosive 2017.
- 31 sixes in 2025, the most ever in a women’s ODI year.
Every number tells the same story: she’s not merely in form; she’s in history mode.
Peak form usually feels fleeting, a purple patch before reality settles in. But Mandhana’s current stretch feels sustainable, grounded in technique and temperament rather than luck. Her rhythm at the crease, her calm under fire, and her ability to construct innings across formats all hint at a player not just peaking, but ascending to a new normal.
If India goes on to lift the World Cup, Mandhana’s run won’t just be the foundation; it’ll be the blueprint for how modern batters balance elegance and efficiency in the age of analytics.
FAQs
- What records has Smriti Mandhana broken recently?
She’s the first woman to score 2000 ODI runs in a 33-innings span and the first to cross 1000 ODI runs in a calendar year.
- Who held the previous record for most ODI runs in a year?
Australia’s Belinda Clark, with 970 runs in 1997.
- What makes Mandhana’s current form historic?
Her unmatched consistency across opponents, domination of both spin and pace, and record-breaking centuries across all formats.
Disclaimer: This blog post reflects the author’s personal insights and analysis. Readers are encouraged to consider the perspectives shared and draw their own conclusions.
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