India opener Smriti Mandhana has moved up to fifth in the ICC Women’s T20I rankings after a strong performance in Australia.
Mandhana now sits behind only Harmanpreet Kaur, Alyssa Healy and Shafali Verma but ahead of Richa Ghosh, who dropped down two places to sixth.
Mandhana is ranked fifth after her superb performance against Hong Kong in the ongoing Women’s Asia Cup. She smashed an unbeaten 124 off 64 balls and was instrumental in India’s 137-run victory.
Her innings wasn’t just about India’s campaign. It helped Mandhana also make history in women’s international cricket too.
The left-hander has moved closer to the top four in T20I rankings. She is just 12 rating points behind West Indies captain Hayley Matthews, who is fourth.
Mandhana's Record-Breaking Asia Cup Knock
Mandhana played one of the best innings of her international career against Hong Kong.
She made 124 runs off only 64 balls. Her aggressive batting helped India put up 193 for five before the bowlers restricted Hong Kong to 56 runs.
The result gave India a huge 137-run win and also put them into the semi-finals of the Women’s Asia Cup.
The knock also helped Mandhana set two major records.
She became the highest run scorer in women's international cricket across all formats with 10,880 runs past former India captain Mithali Raj’s previous record of 10,868 runs.
The century was also Mandhana’s 18th in international cricket. With that hundred, she moved clear at the top of the list for most international centuries in women’s cricket.
Her performance against Hong Kong therefore had an effect on India’s Asia Cup campaign as well as her own standing in international cricket.
Deepti Sharma Also Makes Progress
Mandhana wasn’t the only Indian player to move up in the latest T20I rankings.
Deepti Sharma has moved up two places to sixth among the leading T20I bowlers and fifth among the T20I all-rounders.
Deepti has been important for India in the Women’s Asia Cup. Her ability to contribute with bat and ball has made her one of the key players in India’s campaign.
Other players’ rankings also moved in the latest update.
Bangladesh’s Marufa Akter also moved up the bowling rankings and is now 18th. UAE captain Esha Oza continued her climb as well, moving to 39th among T20I batters.
But the biggest movement for India came from Mandhana and Deepti.
For Mandhana, the latest ranking is another reward for a great period in her career. She remains one of India’s most important batters across formats and has now added another major record to her name.
Her fifth position also puts her within touching distance of the top four. With the Women’s Asia Cup still going on, another good performance could close the gap on Matthews.
India will now have to take that form into the knockout stage of the tournament. Mandhana’s form will be crucial as India look to go all the way and win the Asia Cup.
After her record-breaking 124 against Hong Kong, the India opener has already left her mark on this tournament.
Now there’s another target for her: the top four of the ICC T20I batting rankings.
