Smriti Mandhana awarded the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year 2021

In a great piece of development, India women’s team opener, Smriti Mandhana was awarded the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy for being ennobled with the honour of the ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year. With this herculean feat, she became the second woman cricketer to bag this trophy more than once after Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry.

Mandhana was also nominated for the category of the Women’s T20I Player of the Year award but eventually lost out to English opener, Tammy Beaumont. She, however, bagged a spot in the ICC Women’s T20I Team of the Year.

Mandhana who bagged the award for the first time in 2018, edged past the illustrious likes of fellow openers, Lizelle Lee from South Africa, Tammy Beaumont from England and Irish opener, Gaby Lewis. The only other Indian woman cricketer to bag the award was Jhulan Goswami whose blistering fast bowling carnages landed her the honour in 2007.

Ever since her return to the international arcade after the prolonged hiatus due to the raging pandemic, Mandhana has piled up 855 runs from 22 international fixtures across three series. She has also managed to blast one ton and five fifties en route to the glamorous tally.

The zenith of her recent purple patch came against Australia when she smoked 127 at the Gold Coast in Indian women’s maiden day-night Test.

In 2018, when she won the award for the first time, her tally bragged  669 international runs at a staggering average of 66.90 and was also the third-highest scorer in T20Is with a fine 622 runs at tempestuous strike rate of 130.67.

The ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year award emanated in 2006 was christened after Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, the erstwhile English Women’s Test cricketer and administrator. Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry has disseminated her unrivalled dominion across the fabric of this illustrious award as she bagged it twice in 2017 and 2019 while walking away with the honour of the player of the decade in 2020.