The Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana has been crowned the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women’s Player of the Month for June, beating England’s Maia Bouchier and Sri Lanka’s Vishmi Gunaratne for the accolade, marking the first such recognition in her international career.
Mandhana received this honour after a stellar performance across three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and a Test match on home soil against South Africa. She broke multiple records, amassing 343 runs at a strike rate of 103.93 and an exceptional average of 114.33 in three ODIs, and also registering her maiden international wicket in the ODI series v South Africa.
The 27-year-old excelled during India’s clean sweep ODI series win over South Africa in Bengaluru, followed by a stellar Test match in Chennai against the same opponent.
Mandhana was almost unstoppable. The left-hander made centuries in the first two ODIs, scoring 117 and 136, followed by another impressive score of 90 in the third match, making her the leading run-scorer of the ODI series. Her form continued in the red-ball format, finishing with 149 runs from just 161 deliveries at a strike rate of 92.54. Along with fellow opener Shafali Verma, she helped India achieve a strong start, leading to a first-innings declaration on 603/6. Despite some resistance from the Proteas, India claimed the Test match during the final session of the Test on final day four, winning by 10 wickets.
Mandhana, upon receiving the award, expressed her desire to continue contributing to the team’s success. She shared her happiness about being named ICC Women’s Player of the Month for June. Mandhana was pleased with the team’s performance and her contributions to winning the ODI and Test series. She hoped the team could maintain their form, allowing her to further contribute to India’s victories.
Quoting Mandhana, “I’m glad to be named ICC Women’s Player of the Month for the month of June. I’m really happy with the way I think the team has performed and I’m happy to contribute for us, winning the ODI and the Test series. Hopefully we can continue our form, and I can even further contribute to win matches for India.”