Smriti Mandhana will begin her captaincy era on Friday when the Indian women’s team host Zimbabwe in a three-match T20I series in Raipur.
A two-time Women’s Prmeier League (WPL)-winning captain with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Mandhana was named the new skipper after Harmanpreet Kaur stepped down earlier this month.
Having taken over the T20I reigns in 2016, Harmanpreet took over as an all-format skipper in 2022 after the retirement of legendary Mithali Raj. In fact, India’s first-ever ODI World Cup triumph came under Harmanpreet in 2025 at home, as India beat South Africa in the final.
While Harmanpreet remain available as a player, Mandhana will call all the shots from now on, starting from Zimbabwe series. Post the T20I series, India will play three more ODIs against Zimbabwe women.
Niki Prasad and Jintimani Kalita are the new faces in Mandhana’s T20I squad, while Nandani Sharma is the only new addition to the ODI squad, having already represented India in T20Is.
Has Smriti Mandhana led India before?
But this is not the first time Mandhana is leading India. The 30-year-old from Sangli in Maharashtra has led the Indian team before, in the absence of Harmanpreet. Before becoming a full-time captain, Mandhana has led India on an interim basis in 18 T20Is and four ODIs.
Mandhana’s first match as India captain in T20Is came in 2019 against England in Guwahati. Out of 18 T20Is Mandhana led, India won in 11, lost in six, while one game ended in no result. In the four ODIs which Mandhana led, India won all of them.
How Smriti Mandhana fared in recent times?
Mandhana had a fine Asian Games 2026 campaign, where India defended their gold medal under Harmanpreet, which turned out to be her last assignment as skipper. India beat Sri Lanka in the final by 147 runs, and Mandhana top-scored for India with 79 runs off 45 balls. In all, she scored 116 runs in two innings during the Asian Games tournament.
The past few tournaments and matches have etched Mandhana’s name in history as she currently stands as the leading T20I run-scorer in women’s cricket and also the woman with the most international runs and centuries.
In 179 T20Is so far, she has scored 4,867 runs at an average of 31.00 and a strike rate of over 127, with two centuries and 37 fifties. She has enjoyed a rich run in T20Is this year, with 765 runs in 22 matches at a strike rate of 148.25, with a century and five fifties, including a best score of 124.
Overall, in international cricket, she has made 11,066 runs across 308 appearances, with 18 centuries, joint-most by a batter alongside South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt.