New Delhi: New run machine in Indian cricket, Smriti Mandhana, celebrates her 21st birthday on Tuesday. The left-handed batswoman has already created quite a stir with two phenomenal strikes in the ongoing ICC Women's World Cup 2017, in London.
Here are 10 facts you should know about the sparkling left-hander:
1) She was born in Mumbai, but soon shifted to Sangli at the age of two.
2) She strolled into the game of cricket following the footsteps of his brother Sravan Mandhana, who was then a regular player in the under-19 Maharashtra cricket team at national level.
3) At the age of nine, she was picked in Maharashtra's Under-15 squad and by the time she was 11, she made it to the under-19 squad.
4) She had received ample praise and accolades for her unbeaten knock of 224 runs in 150 deliveries against Gujarat in the West Zone Under-19 ODI Tournament.
5) She made her ODI debut at the age of 16, back in April 2013 against Bangladesh in Ahmedabad. Almost after a year later, she played her first Test match for the national team against England.
6) She has so far played just two Test matches and 30 ODIs for Team India. She has also played 27 T20 internationals.
7) The 21-year-old draws her inspiration from Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara.
8) Over a span of four years since stepping into the 22 yards of space, the young southpaw has already notched up six ODI half-centuries and two hundreds, one of which came against West Indies in the ongoing World Cup tour in England.
9) In 2016, Smriti had signed a year-long contract with the Women's Big Bash League team, Brisbane Heat. She became only the second Indian cricketer after Harmanpreet Kaur to sign such a deal.
10) She was the only Indian to be named in the ICC Women's Team of the year that was announced by ICC, last year.
