At Rs 3.4 crore, Smriti Mandhana has emerged as the most expensive retention in the 2025 edition of the Women's Premier League. (That's Rs 1.6 crore more than the contract for Harmanpreet Kaur, who came in at No 2 on this list). The sum, in fact, is more than 22% of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru total purse of Rs 15 crore.
Meanwhile, last month, Mandhana streaked past Mithali Raj, with an 8th ODI hundred (Raj had seven), a record she set with a series-winning knock against New Zealand.
Mandhana is turning into the de facto role model for Gen-Z girls aiming to take up the sport. The 28-year-old has style, grace and a silken touch typical as a left-hander.
She has been making heads turn with her batting for more than a decade.
She was nine, in fact, when she was selected for the Maharashtra Under-15 team; by ll, she was playing at the U-19 level. By 16, she was captain of the U-19 team; that year, 2012, she made her international debut too.
As a young player, she has said, she admired Diana Edulji, now 68, and Shanta Rangaswamy, 70, Jhulan Goswami, 41, and Harmanpreet Kaur, 35.
It helps that she now plays alongside some of these icons. It helps that, unlike Edulji and Rangaswamy, she hasn't had to go door to door to raise funds; or fight a lonely, often-unsuccessful battle for visibility.
It has taken far too long, but women's cricket is finally being given room to blossom, and Mandhana's rise is proof of what is possible when sports administration stops ignoring women's sports.
Denne historien er fra November 10, 2024-utgaven av Hindustan Times.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra November 10, 2024-utgaven av Hindustan Times.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Unlocking Better Health On Your Plate
Thinking of going vegan? This World Vegan Month, we take a look at everything to consider before adopting a plant-based diet
SRK Reveals He Cries In The Bathroom After Failures
I don't show it to anyone. Because I think you can wallow in self-pity for [only] about that much time. [But] you have to believe that the world is not against you or conspiring to destroy your work. SHAH RUKH KHAN, Actor
Should You Pick Low-Volatility Funds In Choppy Mkt?
The stock markets have been experiencing heightened volatility amid selling by foreign portfolio investors, downgrades to corporate earnings, and slower economic growth.
TRAFFICKED OVER 500 INDIANS TO U.S., SAYS CONVICT
FERGUS FALLS: Rajinder Singh, the 51-year-old man convicted of human trafficking across the US-Canada border which led to the death of a family of four from Gujarat in January 2022, testified on Tuesday that he shuttled more than 500 Indian migrants across the border over four years as part of an international smuggling ring.
Schools adapt to focus on revision for boards
NEW DELHI: Within days of the Delhi government imposing a blanket ban on in-person lessons for all classes, irrespective of whether they had board exams in the academic year, school principals said they have started changing the academic calendars to ensure students of classes 10 and 12 can save time in the run-up to board exams, while simultaneously ensuring they are in good health.
CAQM MANDATES SCHOOL CLOSURE IN BORDER DISTS
NEW DELHI: The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Wednesday revised the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), making closure of schools mandatory in Delhi and the neighbouring NCR districts of districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar under stages 3 and 4.
Mercury falls to season's low of 11.2°C; parts of city at 8.2°C
NEW DELHI: Delhi residents reached for their blankets, steeling themselves for winter as cold northwesterly winds blew through the Capital on Wednesday, with some parts of the city recording temperatures as low as 8.2 degrees Celsius (°C).
Only 33.3% turn up to vote in Gzb
GHAZIABAD: The district of Ghaziabad recorded the lowest voter turnout of 33.3% (till 5pm) among the nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh that went to bypolls on Wednesday, according to tentative data by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
SC revives 1990 drug trafficking case against Kerala MLA
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday revived criminal proceedings in a trial court against Kerala MLA Antony Raju for alleged tampering of evidence in a drug trafficking case reported in 1990 and has directed him to appear before the trial court on December 20.
CBSE EXAMS FOR CLASSES 10, 12 TO BEGIN FROM FEB 15
NEW DELHI: The board exams for class 10 and 12 will begin from February 15, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced on Wednesday.
