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India's Smriti Mandhana has been named the International Cricket Council (ICC) Women's Cricketer of the Year for 2021. Mandhana will receive the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy, named in honour of former England captain. The Indian opener was one of the top performers of 2021 across formats. She participated in India's only pink-ball Test in women's history last year as well.
Hundred against Australia Women
Mandhana was in top form last year as she scored a hundred at Carrara Oval in Queensland against the Australia Women's team. A fine knock of 127 runs saw the India batter register her maiden ton in the longest format. The Test ended in a draw but Mandhana was adjudged the 'Player of the Match'. She also scored 31 runs in the second innings of the fixture. Her exploits were also seen against the England Women's team when she smashed 78 runs in the first innings of the Bristol Test. The match ended in a draw, but she and Shefali Verma (96) put together a record opening stand of 167 runs in the first innings of the rain-curtailed drawn Test.
Numbers game
In four Test innings in 2021, Mandhana scored 244 runs at an average of 61. In ODI format, she scored 352 runs in 11 matches at an average of 35.2. This included a match-winning knock of unbeaten 80 runs against South Africa Women's team. The Indian team only won two matches in the entire home series against the Proteas, but the knock in Lucknow was a special memory for Mandhana. The left-handed batter also scored an 86-run knock against the Australian Women's Team in September, although India lost the match by five wickets.
When it comes to the T20Is, she scored 255 runs at an average of 31.87 runs. She kept Australia's Beth Mooney out of ICC's T20I team of the year to take her place in the squad, where she was the lone Indian representative. In nine T20Is, she scored two fifties at a strike rate of 131.44. Her 29-run knock off just 15 deliveries earned applauds in Northampton back in July, but was not enough to save Team India from a 1-2 series loss.
She was given a tough fight by Australia's Mooney, England skipper Nat Sciver, Tammy Beaumont but her performances and consistency in all formats earned her the Player of the Year award. Earlier, England's Joe Root was honoured with the Men's Test Player of the Year for 2021. The England skipper scored a whopping 1,708 runs in the calendar year.
