Smriti Mandhana awarded ICC Women Cricketer of the Year

Indian cricketer Smriti Mandhana has won the Rachael Heyhoe- Flint trophy for being the ICC Women’s cricketer of the year for 2021. She has won this award for the second time. Her first win came in 2018 and she is now only the second player in Women’s cricket after Australian cricketer Eliyse Perry who has been awarded the highest distinction in the women’s overall category at the ICC events. She was also in contention for the ICC Women’s T20I player of the year which was awarded to England’s Tammy Beaumont. Smriti was also named in the ICC Women’s T20I Team of the Year.

It is a big honor for an Indian cricketer to win this award considering India’s Jhulan Goswami (2007) and Smriti are the only female Indian players who have won an ICC annual award till now. She has pipped some amazing talents this year to win the award which include the likes of Tammy Beaumont of England, Lizelle Lee of South Africa and Gaby Lewis of Ireland. Smriti also commented on her achievement and said “I am truly honoured for receiving the prestigious Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy for the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year 2021. I am grateful to my team-mates, my coaches, my family, friends and fans who believed in my potential and supported me in this journey.

“A recognition of such high class from the global governing body of cricket in an exceptional and difficult year will motivate me to continue to better my game and contribute to Team India’s success going forward. I look forward to 2022 with a clear focus on winning the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022 in New Zealand as we continue to prepare as a team and unit.”

This achievement is even more special because of the different circumstances in which Smriti has had to play. Resuming play after almost a year without any games due to the Covid – 19 pandemic, the Indian Women’s cricket team had started playing only on March 7^th. Smriti still managed to score an impressive 855 runs across 22 international fixtures which took place in a set of three different series. Her best performance however, came against Australia in what was the Indian Woman team’s first day-night test. She scored her maiden test century – 127 runs against the Aussies which led to India’s victory as well.

India’s cricketing superstar Smriti would now be looking forward towards her next challenge. She has her sights locked on the upcoming ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 and would be raring to go and test herself yet again against the very best cricket has to offer. She is the true definition of a team player which is why she has been deservingly chosen as the best female cricketer across all the three formats in 2021.