Smriti Mandhana

Smriti Mandhana bats with the grace that is typical of left-handers and its also brought her runs all over the world. Over time, Mandhana has added a power game, with a pull shot comparable with some of the best ever. Her consistency over long periods has made her among the top batters; attributes that have also made her arguably among the most marketable female athletes in India.

A prodigy, Mandhana made her senior team debut for Maharashtra as a 13-year-old, and graduated to captaining the team at 16. An international debut in the same year (2013) was the start of a journey in which she has broken the ceiling repeatedly.

In 2014, she celebrated her Test debut with a half-century in a historic win over England in Wormsley. In 2017, she struck 90 on ODI World Cup debut, in a tournament where India spurred a revolution by making the final. In between, she became the face of the women's T20 revolution in India long before the Women's Premier League was conceived, becoming only the second Indian to sign a franchise deal, with WBBL team Brisbane Heat.

Among all the runs and records she has racked up, Mandhana's biggest achievement to date must undoubtedly be the WPL 2024 title she delivered as captain for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, whose bid of INR 3.4 crore (USD 415,000 approx then) made her the costliest signing prior to the inaugural edition.