The Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction was an exciting day filled with drama and fierce bidding wars. One player in particular stood out, captivating the attention of franchises everywhere. Smriti Mandhana, the Indian opener and destructive batter, was the most expensive player of the 2023 WPL auction, bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for a whopping sum of ₹3.4 crore.
Mandhana was the first player to go under the hammer and was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for a whopping 3.4 crores, the highest-priced player of the auction so far. After fierce bidding from Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, it was RCB who outpriced their rivals to rope in the star batter. Mandhana was slotted for a base price of 50 lakhs, but the bidding war between the two teams saw the price skyrocket.
Mike Hesson, the coach of RCB, expressed his joy at getting Mandhana in the team. He said, “Everyone knows Mandhana and Perry, we were pretty committed to the couple of people we wanted to get. We’re very happy to get such quality players. It’s a dream result for us to get Mandhana, Perry, and Devine. Smriti has got plenty of captaincy experience and is familiar with the Indian conditions, so she is highly likely to be captain.”
One interesting aspect of this purchase is the similarity between Smriti Mandhana and Virat Kohli with RCB. Both batters are known for their aggressive and destructive batting styles and coincidentally wear the No. 18 jersey.
Here’s a closer look at the talented cricketer Smriti Mandhana who stole the limelight of the WPL auction:
Smriti Mandhana is a professional Indian cricketer who plays for the Indian women’s national team.
Background
- Born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India on July 18, 1996
- Moved to Madhavnagar, Sangli in Maharashtra at the age of two
- Inspired to take up cricket by her father and brother who both played at the district-level
- Got selected in the Maharashtra Under-15 team at the age of nine
- by 11, she was part of the Maharashtra Under-19 team.
- Became the first Indian woman to achieve a double-hundred in a one-day game in October 2013
Awards and Accolades
- Named the Best Women’s International Cricketer by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in June 2018
- Received the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for the best female cricketer of the year by the International Cricket Council in December 2018
- Nominated for the ICC Women’s T20 Player of the Year in December 2021
- Nominated for the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year in December 2021
- Received the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year in January 2022
- she was also awarded with the prestigious ‘Arjuna Award’ in 2019.
Skills and Style
- Left-handed opening batswoman who can also ball part-time right-arm medium pace
- Known for her aggressive and destructive batting style, similar to Virat Kohli
- Wears the No. 18 jersey, coincidentally like Kohli
Family Support
- Closely involved in her cricketing activities with support from her father, mother, and brother
- Father, Shrinivas, is a chemical distributor and takes care of her cricket program
- Mother, Smita, is in charge of her diet, clothing, and other organization aspects
- Brother, Shravan, still bowls to her in the nets
Major breakthrough
- Mandhana’s first major breakthrough came in October 2013 when she became the first Indian woman to score a double-hundred in a one-day game. She scored an unbeaten 224 off just 150 balls in the West Zone Under-19 Tournament playing for Maharashtra against Gujarat.
International Career
She made her One Day International debut in 2013 against Bangladesh and her Test debut in August 2014 against England at Wormsley Park. She helped India win the match by scoring 22 and 51 in her first and second innings, respectively. In the second ODI game of India’s tour of Australia in 2016, Mandhana scored her first international hundred (102 off 109 balls) but India lost the match. She was also the only Indian player to be named in the ICC Women’s Team of the Year 2016.
In the 2017 World Cup, Mandhana made a successful comeback after recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament rupture injury sustained during her time at the WBBL. She started the World Cup with a score of 90 against England in Derby and followed it up with her second One Day International hundred against West Indies (106*).
Club Career
In September 2016, Mandhana signed a one-year deal with Brisbane Heat for the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) and became one of the first two Indians to be signed up for the League. However, she got injured while playing against Melbourne Renegades in January 2017, ruling her out of the rest of the tournament. Despite this, she ended the season with 89 runs in 12 innings.
In June 2018, she signed for Kia Super League defending champions Western Storm and became the first Indian to play in this league.
Records
Smriti holds several records in her name. In March 2018, she broke her own record for scoring the fastest fifty for India in a Women’s Twenty20 International (WT20I) fixture, taking just 25 balls in the opening match of the tournament against England. Her previous record was against Australia women in the 2017-18 India women’s Tri-Nation Series where she took 30
Smriti Mandhana is a true icon in the world of women’s cricket. With her skills and talent, she has not only made a name for herself in the Indian cricket team but has also made the country proud with her international performances. With her acquisition by the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the WPL auction of 2023, we can expect more great things from this talented cricketer in the future. Whether she continues to break records or inspire the next generation of women cricketers, Smriti Mandhana is a player to watch out for!
Read more : WPL auction 2023: Know Astonishing Details that no one is Telling You
