From Sangli to Forbes, Smriti Mandhana has come a long way

Of late, Smriti Mandhana is scripting a story of her own. Born in Mumbai, she shifted to Sangli at the age of 2. She dreamt of playing Cricket and representing India after watching her brother play the game.

With full family support, she slowly but steadily took massive strides in the game of Cricket. Having made her debut as a 16-year-old in 2013, she became the talk of the town when she scored 224 off 150 balls in West Zone's Women's Under 19 match at Alembic Ground in Vadodara. The phenomenal knock came from a practice bat of Rahul Dravid that she was playing with.

When ICC announced Women's Team of the year for the first time in 2016, Mandhana was the only Indian player to make it to the team, thanks to her maiden ODI 100 vs Australia in that period.

Mandhana and Kaur were the only Indians to bag Women's Big Bash League Contract in its second season. An injury forced her to miss out on World Cup Qualifiers. She returned in time for the World Cup 2017 though.

Mandhana started the World Cup with a swashbuckling 90 against hosts England which set up a win for India. She followed it up with an unbeaten 106 against West Indies in the second match.

Coming into the current home season, Mandhana has been the lone shining light for India. India has struggled as a team but Mandhana has risen big time. She has even matured as a player and is ready to take responsibility for the team.

Mandhana recently created a record for the fastest T20I 50 by an Indian, scoring it in 30 balls. She broke her own record 3 days later by scoring a 25 ball 50.

https://twitter.com/bhaleraosarang/status/977775492697903104?s=19

And thus, it was really heartening to see Smriti Mandhana's name featuring in the Forbes 30 under-30 Asia list. She's the only cricketer to feature in the list. Overall, there are 4 Indians featuring in the "Entertainment and Sports" category; others being P V Sindhu, Anushka Sharma and Padmanabh Singh.

https://twitter.com/WomensCricZone/status/978685833803911179?s=19

Mandhana has stayed away from taking government posts or lucrative advertisement deals. She has committed herself towards playing Cricket. Whenever not playing for India, she makes sure she turns out for Maharashtra. With the kind of dedication and focus she is showing, India is blessed to have her in the team.

To make it to a Forbes list is a huge thing and the 21-year-old Smriti Mandhana richly deserves featuring in it. She is certainly chasing her dreams rapidly. We wish her a great career ahead.