Smriti Mandhana is stealing the limelight as she emerges to be the third fastest Indian cricketer at the international level to reach 4,000 WODI runs. It is a major breakthrough in the cricket team of India.
The Indian cricket team is perceived as being of male players. There is a separate name given to recognise female players in the same profession, and it is called Indian Women’s Cricket Team. This distinction is not confined to India, but is prevalent throughout the world. Cricket’s recognition is based on male players and the viewers remain at the forefront to give this recognition.
In addition, there are myriad reasons for women’s less participation in cricket even though the BCCI decided to announce equal payment to both male and female cricketers in 2022- reasons such as societal norms, and parental discouragement.
Cricket is deemed to be a men’s sport. The most common social stigma attached to cricket is its association with masculinity. Women are associated with femininity so they are apparently incapable of playing it. An article on News Line Magazine by Tanushree Bhasin (2024), says, there is a long way to tackle gender inequality at the professional sports level. There is still so much invisibility of women in informal cricket games played in the country’s parks and streets.
Nevertheless, Smriti Mandhana’s achievement is a challenge to male dominance in the Indian cricket team. The comparison is even made between Virat Kohli and Smriti Mandhana with the tag ‘Who is the best batter.’
Smriti grew up in the midst of cricket atmosphere
She was born in Mumbai on the 18th of July, 1996, but her family decided to move to the Madhavnagar suburbs of Sangli, Maharashtra at the age of two. She grew up in the midst of a cricket atmosphere. Her father Shrinivas was a player at the district level. His profession was a chemical distributor and her mother Smita looked after household management. Her brother Shravan got the chance of representing Maharashtra U-19 team, but subsequently, he quit the profession and turned into a banker.
Smriti was inspired to become a cricketer by her visits to grounds for practicing cricket along with her brother. This inculcated passion in her. The passion and fascination for cricket were further fostered in her by the parental support she had received since her childhood. She was even encouraged to become a batswoman.
During her interview at ESPNCricrinfo, she mentioned, “My father never said no to me so whenever my brother for a net session, he used to lob balls at me gently.” Even though her brother and she were right-handed players, her father was more inclined towards left-handed players. That is why she switched to being a left-handed player. Astonishingly, she was just nine years old when she made her debut in the Maharashtra cricket team. When she turned 15, she wanted to opt for science, but her mother persuaded her not to go with it as the science stream would be an arduous task to balance with cricket.
It is veracious to note that she was brought up in a family fond of cricket. It is the remembrance of her journey from being an informal or casual cricket player to enjoying the title of a professional player with esteemed recognition at the international level. Well, her passion for cricket was to be an attempt to pose a challenge to well-embedded social stigma to associate sports with male masculinity.
Smriti’s courage and passion for cricket
She was just nine years old when she debuted on the Maharashtra cricket team. With courage, bravery, and the utilisation of opportunities, she went on to represent her state in a number of age-group tournaments. In line with her playing style, she was selected for the national women’s team. 2013 was the year when she, for the first time at the age of 16, appeared at the international level, where she played against Bangladesh. In subsequent times, she turned into an exceptional player in ODIs and T20s because of her enthralling performances.
In 2014, with her further achievements, she debuted in the Test match against England. In 2017, she suffered from a serious knee injury that put her cricket career at stake, but despite this, she played a significant role in the ICC Women’s World Cup in the same year. In 2018, she earned the titles of “The ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year” and “The ICC Women’s ODI Player of the Year.”
2019 was a historic year for her and the world, as she ranked first in the world’s ICC ODI’s rankings. She also comes under the category of “The Fastest T20 50 by an Indian Woman.” She even earned the silver medal at Commonwealth Games 2022.
Smriti Mandhana has become the second Indian cricket batter, next to Mithali Raj, to land to 4000 runs in W-ODIs. The latter carries 7805 runs. In the ninth over, Mandhana, with the captainship of the team, gained a milestone achievement. These two are the only players with 4000 runs in the women’s ODI.
Her performance says that the social stigma needs to be uprooted
Smriti’s outstanding performance on the ground tells the world that social stigma needs to be broken. The normalisation of dominance of men’s cricket and the subsequent invisibilisation of women’s participation should be addressed. The impressive journey of Mandhana is quite influential for women who are passionate about playing outdoors. The parental encouragement plays a crucial role in fostering passion among women to appear autonomous and hold on to their individual worth. The more women participate in sports, the less powerful social stigma will remain.
Smriti breaks the stereotypes and stands firm as an internationally recognised player. Besides her accomplishments she has made so far, her impressive batting style and calmness in leadership remain prominent as it breeds confidence among teammates.
