Two cricket stars are making their countries proud on the global stage. India’s Smriti Mandhana and South Africa’s Temba Bavuma have been named in TIME magazine’s power list of the 100 Most Influential People in Sports.
Out of all the incredible athletes across the globe, Smriti Mandhana and Temba Bavuma are the only two cricketers to make the entire list. They share this rare, major honor with global icons like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and LeBron James. For a sport played by millions worldwide, having only two representatives highlights just how massive their impact has been. Both players are being recognized for breaking records, winning trophies, and inspiring the nation.
Smriti Mandhana, the left-handed opening batter, has completely rewritten the cricket record books. She is known for her smooth, elegant batting and her ability to score big runs against any opponent. Adding to the magnitude of her achievement, she is also the only Indian athlete across any sport to feature on TIME’s list this year.
Mandhana was the first Indian woman to score a double century in a domestic one-day match. She became the first Indian woman to hit a century in all three formats of international cricket (Test matches, One-Day Internationals, and T20s) and 2025 also saw her become the first woman globally to score more than 1,000 One-Day International (ODI) runs in a single calendar year.
Her unmatched consistency led her to set a world record for the most international runs across all formats by a woman, a record she broke herself a year later. This amazing achievement earned her the BBC Indian Sportswoman award.
While Mandhana values her personal records, she is even prouder of winning titles with her teammates. She serves as the vice-captain of the Indian national team and played a key role in India’s historic triumph at the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025, where she was the second-highest run-scorer. Right now, she is also celebrated for her leadership at the club level, having captained the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to two Women’s Premier League (WPL) titles.
On the other hand, Temba Bavuma’s cricket journey is about far more than just runs and wickets. As one of only a few Black South African cricketers, he has carried the hopes of an entire nation every time he steps onto the field.
Bavuma has spent his career breaking down barriers for Black athletes in his country. In 2016, he became the first Black South African batter to score a century in a Test match. Five years later, he made history again by becoming South Africa’s first-ever Black captain. For Bavuma, every personal success has been a turning point for the sport in South Africa, helping to show young Black children that they belong at the highest level of cricket.
Bavuma is currently enjoying the greatest period of his career as a leader. He recently captained South Africa to a historic Test series win away in India. Even more impressively, he led his team to victory in the World Test Championship, finishing the tournament with an eighth-match winning streak.
In the final match against a heavily favored Australian team, Bavuma showed true heroic spirit. Despite suffering a painful hamstring injury that made it hard to move, he stayed on the pitch to score 66 vital runs. This victory gave South Africa its first major international cricket title since 1998, cementing Bavuma’s legacy as a true sporting hero.
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