INDIA WOMEN TOUR OF ENGLAND, 2025
Smriti Mandhana scored her maiden T20I hundred in the first game against England © Getty
Smriti Mandhana has revealed how a conversation with her teammate Radha Yadav spurred her to score her maiden T20I hundred.
“Three days back, me and Radha Yadav, we were having a conversation,” Mandhana said. “These girls are really hard on me sometimes. She was telling me, ‘It’s high time you get a century in T20Is, you keep getting out in the 70s, 80s and you are not doing justice to your talent and all of that stuff.’
“I was like, ‘okay, Radha, I’ll see now, this time I’ll try and get it in one of the matches in the series’.”
When she reached the landmark, Mandhana became only the second India batter to score a century in Women’s T20Is and just the fifth female cricketer to register a hundred in each of the three international formats, joining Heather Knight, Tammy Beaumont, Laura Wolvaardt, and Beth Mooney in an elite club.
Mandhana said she acknowledged Radha the moment she reached the milestone, pointing at her from the middle in a gesture that to her meant joy but also relief.
“I did not think that it would come in the first match, but the finger was towards her, that ‘see, I got it today,'” Mandhana said. “Because it’s pretty frustrating to get out in the 70s and 80s over the last ten years and when you had that opportunity to take the team through. So I’m happy that I could stay and take the team to the 19th and the 20th over.”
With Harmanpreet Kaur unavailable due to a late fitness call, Mandhana stood in as captain and said the additional responsibility didn’t affect her approach with the bat.
“As a batter, it doesn’t change a lot. You don’t think that you are captaining and you bat differently,” Mandhana said. “Whenever you have the bat in hand, you have to do the job for the team regardless of the position you are in, so I’m really happy that I could contribute today.”
She also explained how the team had been preparing for the possibility of Harmanpreet missing out.
“Harman was getting assessed over last night and this morning and there were a few scans to be done. We had a 50-50 idea, so I had a chat with the bowlers around what the plans are and I was pretty ready last night but the confirmation came today.”
Under Mandhana’s leadership, India produced a dominant all-round performance to hand England their heaviest T20I defeat. Shree Charani, playing her first international T20I match, stole the spotlight while bowling with a four-wicket haul.
“The way the bowlers bowled and executed the plan, it was just amazing,” Mandhana said. “That makes our job very, very easy when they bowl like that and they all were really focused, they knew their plans.
“Especially Shree, to come in the first match and bowl. We saw what she could do in the WPL a little bit. She was always looking like a really good bowler. But today the way she actually bowled was amazing, as did all the bowlers.”
© Cricbuzz
