Sachin Tendulkar takes to Twitter to wish Smriti Mandhana on her birthday

The women's cricketer has been a massive success for the national team across all formats.

Published - 18 Jul 2018, 14:29 IST | Updated - 18 Jul 2018, 14:29 IST

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The Indian Women’s cricket team has been going through a tumultuous phase with a string of defeats and coach Tushar Arothe stepping down from his role. However, the tough times can’t diminish the improvement the team has shown over the past one year. The Women’s World Cup in 2017 brought about a radical change in their cricket. One of their main architects is Smriti Mandhana.

Mandhana played a whirlwind knock in the opening match against England but unfortunately missed his century. Her knock ensured that Mithali Raj’s troops open their campaign with a thumping victory. In the second match against the Windies, the women’s prodigy accomplished his second ODI century, which also helped her team to their second victory of the tournament in Taunton.

Mandhana’s surge ahead

His maiden century in the 50-overs format came back in 2016 against Australia in Hobart. She notched her third ton during India’s tour of South Africa earlier this year. The Women in Blue also played a couple of bilateral ODI series against the Aussies and England. Mandhana was one of their star batsmen as she aggregated 312 runs in five matches at an average of 62.40.

Even in the T20 format, she has been a major success. In 42 matches, the Maharashtra-born batswoman has 857 runs in 42 matches under his belt to go with five half-centuries. She also captained the Trailblazers in their IPL exhibition match against Harmanpreet Kaur’s Supernovas in Mumbai. In 2016, she was also selected to play for the Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash League.

Mandhana is celebrating her 22nd birthday today and wishes have poured in for one of the most talented cricketers the country has ever produced. Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar, the legendary Indian cricketer, also wished her on the auspicious birthday.

He took to Twitter and wrote, “Many, many happy returns of the day, @mandhana_smriti. Keep smiling!”