India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana never imagined she would one day surpass Mithali Raj’s tally of most runs in women’s internationals, until she did, in spectacular fashion.
On 3 September 2026 in Dubai, the 30-year-old left-hander smashed an unbeaten 124 off 64 balls against Hong Kong to seal India’s semi-final berth in the Women’s Asia Cup, while also overtaking Raj’s career aggregate of 10,868 runs. Mandhana now sits atop the all-time list with 10,880 international runs and has also registered a record 18 centuries across formats, surpassing Meg Lanning and Laura Wolvaardt.
Batting under sweltering Dubai conditions, Mandhana described the atmosphere as “a steam box,” yet she dominated with 14 fours and seven sixes, running only 26 of her 124 runs. Her innings lasted nearly 90 minutes and included three consecutive sixes in the 18th over, propelling India to 193 for 5 and a 137-run win.
Despite the emphatic victory, India’s middle order again showed fragility. After a 74-run opening stand with Shafali Verma, no batter beyond Mandhana and captain Harmanpreet Kaur (10 off 9) scored at over a run a ball. Nos. 3 to 7 managed just two fours in 39 deliveries.
Smriti Mandhana’s post-match reflections blended humility with ambition. “Till I was batting, I didn’t know what record because I didn’t know what’s the exact runs or all of that,” she said. “But yeah, looking back, definitely a very good day for Indian cricket, I would say. Of course, Mithali di has been such a legend and a role model, and we’ve all grown up watching her bat, so to go past her in the tally of runs is [something] I definitely never imagined to do. But happy that there are two Indians in the top two.”
Her century count now stands at 18 in internationals, 14 in ODIs (one behind Lanning’s record), and two each in Tests and T20Is. On eclipsing Lanning and Wolvaardt, she added: “Going past the international record of centuries, I mean, 18 is a good number to go past; firstly, I will say that.
“But again, two of the legends of women’s cricket, Meg Lanning and Mithali Raj. Genuinely, these are the two people who I have grown up watching a lot of my cricket, and I tried to take a lot of things from them as a batter. So really happy that I could go past them in whatever way. But again, it’s just the start, I would say.”
While Mandhana continued to find boundaries in the death overs, India’s reliance on her underscored persistent concerns against Associate opposition. In their Asia Cup opener against Thailand, India collapsed from 108 for 2 to 159 for 9; against Hong Kong, they avoided a collapse but failed to build momentum after the openers.
Mandhana, however, remained measured in her assessment, “I wouldn’t say that it’s easy conditions to bat out there. We know it can be a little tricky, and definitely I am not the one to come in the press conferences and talk about or name anyone in that way. But having said that, I think everyone is a world-class batter in the middle order as well, and there’s no doubt about it that they’ll be able to adapt.”
India next faces Pakistan on Saturday before the semi-finals on 10–11 September. Beyond the Asia Cup, India, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, will compete in the 4th edition (since the inaugural edition in 2010) of the Asian Games, hosted by Japan from 17 to 22 September 2026, marking the tournament’s return since 2023.
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