National crush... 

Smite Mandala,

 A stylish batter donning the number 18 with sublime cricketing shots. No, not Virat Kohli. We are writing about Smite Mandala, – the smart left-handed opener of the Indian Women’s Cricket team.

Donning black glasses, a focused Mandala, walked on for the Women in Blue for the very first time as a 16-year-old while her friends were sitting in classrooms contemplating on their future. The hot-handed teenager who was never interested in Science or a probable career in hospitality.

 But, all she wanted to do was take the bat and hit the ball out of the park. Smite has shown an undying passion for cricket since her debut as a teenager. It has made her only the second Indian cricketer to feature in a foreign T20 league; score a World Cup century and become one of the few cricketers to score a double ton in a List A-game. e. 

 About Smite Mandala 

  Details 

 Full Name

 Smite Shrinks Mandala

 Age

 24

 Gender 

 Female 

 Sport Category 

  Cricket

 Date of Birth 

  18 July 1996

 Hometown 

 Singly, Maharashtra

 Height

 5ft 4 in (1.63 m)

 Coach

 Man Tameka

 Achievement 

 ICC, Rachael Hey hoe Flint to Award for the best female cricketer of the year 2018. ODI Player of the Year by the ICC, 2018. Only Indian player to be named in the ICC Women's Team of the Year 2016. Youngest T20I captain for India. Won the International Woman Cricketer of the Year  award, 2019.

 Net worth

 25 crores

 Spouse

 Unmarried

 Parent

 Smite Mandala & Shrinks Mandala

 ODI Debut

 10 April 2013 v Bangladesh

 Test Debut

 5 April 2013 v Bangladesh

 ICC Rankings

 ODI rankings: 7

 T 20 Debut

 5 April 2013 v Bangladesh

 Batting Style

 Left-handed

 Bowling Style

 Right-arm medium

 Teams Played for

 India Women, Brisbane Heat Women, Trailblazers, Western Storm, Hobart Hurricanes  Women, India B Women

 Alma Mater

 Smite Mandala Biography

 Early Days

 She was born on 18th July in the city of dreams to Smite and Shrinks Mandala. Her father, a former district player, turned chemical distributor at a textile company, longed to see his incomplete dream through his children Shaman and Smite. When she was two years old, her family moved too Singly.

 It was Smite's brother who started playing first. Smite would accompany her father to watch him play at the U 16s. While the brother scored runs and basked in local paper glory, the sister would cut and collect the clippings; thinking: “One day, I thought I should also be scoring runs like this”.  

 Her supportive father never said no to her. Whenever his brother went to the nets, Shrinks used to lob the balls gently. However, Smite hated the fact that her father used to throw the ball lightly. Soon her father started to bowl to her from 15 yards and noticed how good she hit the ball. 

Smite Mandala Career 

 At 9, Mandala was picked in the Maharashtra U 15 squads. However, she was boosted with confidence as bowlers older than her used to the lineup to bowl to her. Her unfazed confidence convinced her father that she had a future in the sport. 

 However, long work hours meant he could not personally look after her training. And with sending her to either Mumbai and Bangalore, not an option, Smite used her savings to build a concrete pitch where she trained under the eyes of junior state coachman  Tameka.  

 “I used to train in the morning, then go to school, and then have nets in the evening,” she says. “Sometimes, if the teachers let me go early, I used to finish evening nets and then go home and watch TV,” remembers Smite.

 Domestic career

 By the time she turned 11, she was already a part of the Maharashtra Under-19 team. However, smite did not get a chance to start in the XI for the first two years. As she neared 15, she had a huge decision to make with the Class X boards fast approaching.

 While Smite wanted to pursue Science, her mother put her foot down, knowing she could not balance both studies and cricket. A thankful, Smite could turn her complete focus on cricket, and her performances started to speak. 

 She scored three centuries and one unbeaten double century against Gujrat U 19 at Vadodara in the interstate U 19 one-day competition. Her 224 in 150 balls made her the first Indian woman with a double-hundred in a first-class game.  

 Good scores continued in two following U19, limited over tournaments, and within no time, Smite was called up for the Challenger Trophy. In the 2016 Women’s Challenger Trophy, she became the tournament’s top scorer, scoring 192 runs, and helping her team to win the Trophy by clinching 62* in the final against India Blue.