Smriti Mandhana In TIME's List Of '100 Most Influential People In Sports' Alongside Lionel Messi, Carlos Alcaraz. Check Full List
Smriti Mandhana has slowly but surely become the face of Indian women's cricket
- Smriti Mandhana is the highest Indian T20I run-scorer with 4,401 runs in 161 innings
- Mandhana was named in TIME's 2026 list of The 100 Most Influential People in Sports
- She was vice-captain in India's ICC Womens World Cup win and scored the second-most runs
Smriti Mandhana has slowly but surely become the face of Indian women's cricket. Alongside Harmanpreet Kaur, she is one of the fiercest trailblazers in women's cricket. In fact, her prowess and talent go beyond the realm of just women's cricket. She is currently the highest scorer in T20Is among Indians. In April, she surpassed Rohit Sharma to reach the milestone. Former Indian men's captain Rohit Sharma has 4,231 runs in 151 innings. Mandhana crossed that and currently sits on 4,401 runs in 161 innings.
Her achievements have now placed her alongside some legends in world sports in TIME's list of "The 100 Most Influential People in Sports 2026". You can check the full list HERE
"From athletes and coaches to advocates and investors, these are the people shaping sports today," read the description of the list. Other prominent sportspersons on the list are footballers Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Erling Haaland; tennis stars Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner; F1 world champion Lando Norris; and South Africa captain Temba Bavuma.
Praising Mandhana, Time.com wrote: "The records keep tumbling in for Smriti Mandhana. The Mumbai-born left-handed opening batter was the first Indian woman to score a double century in a domestic one-day game, the first to score a century in all three international formats, and is a joint holder of the most international women's cricket centuries with 17.
"Mandhana is also the first woman to score more than 1,000 one-day international runs in a calendar year. But Mandhana is proudest of the team honors she is also accumulating. She captained the Royal Challengers Bangalore to the 2024 and 2026 Women's Premier League titles and was vice-captain for India's triumph at last year's ICC Women's World Cup, scoring the second-most runs in the tournament. In 2024, Mandhana set the record for most international runs across formats by a woman and then beat her own record last year-a feat that contributed to her being crowned BBC Indian Sportswoman of 2025."
Mandhana is currently playing in the Women's T20 World Cup and top-scored with a 44-ball 68 in India's first match against Pakistan. India won the match by 64 runs after posting 170/6
India Cricket Team