India’s Smriti Mandhana has been named the ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of 2024 after a phenomenal year where she broke multiple records.
The left-hander scored 747 runs in 13 innings at an average of 57.46 with four hundreds and three fifties. She reached 90 six times, ending as the highest-run scorer in the format in 2024. It was also the most she has made in a calendar year, her record also helping her achieve her career-best in the ICC batting rankings.
She edged ahead of other contenders like Chamari Athapaththu, Laura Wolvaardt and Annabel Sutherland, becoming the second cricketer to win the award twice.
A record-breaking year for Mandhana
Mandhana’s 747 was the fourth-most by India women’s batter has scored in ODIs in a calendar year. She also scored the most tons by any batter in a single year when she scored 105 against Australia Down Under in December. Mandhana also equalled Ellyse Perry for the most nineties in her career (six) after falling for 90 and 91 against South Africa and West Indies, respectively.
Mandhana’s series in Australia, where she arguably made her best ODI ton, also put her in the league of all-time greats. She is the only visiting batter to score more than 150 runs and average over 50 in women’s ODIs in Australia, scoring two hundreds, the most any overseas player has managed in the country. At Perth, Mandhana top-scored for the side in a losing cause when no other player from her team made more than 39. She was one of four India batters to reach double digits, navigating the new ball in tough conditions.
Mandhana, who made back-to-back tons against South Africa to inspire her side to a series win against South Africa, also made a crucial hundred in the series decider against New Zealand in Ahmedabad. Overall, she also became the first women's batter to cross fifty 16 times in a calendar year, after bringing up her sixth successive half-century against the West Indies.
This is the second time that Mandhana is being bestowed with the award, having also won the ICC ODI Women’s Player in 2018. She has also been named the Women’s Cricketer of the Year on two occasions, in 2018 and 2021. Suzie Bates is the only other player to win the ODI Women's Player of the Year twice – in 2013 and 2016.
Mandhana is also the only India women's batter to win the award. No one else has won it even once.
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