Indian women cricketers Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues have made it into the Top 10 T20 rankings yet again. While Verma is the highest-ranked Indian batswoman, securing the third spot, maintaining their stellar performances Mandhana and Rodrigues respectively hold seventh and ninth places in the list led by Australian Beth Mooney, as announced by ICC.
Among bowlers, Deepti Sharma is the highest-ranked Indian, currently securing the sixth spot. She is followed by Radha Yadav and Poonam Yadav at seventh and eighth places, respectively. Among all-rounders, Deepti remains the only Indian in top 10, currently placed at the fourth spot, the official ICC site reported.
Shafali Verma
Earlier this year, Shafali Verma held the top spot in the ICC women’s T20 International rankings after her stellar run at the T20 World Cup. She is also the only cricketer who shattered Sachin Tendulkar’s 30-year-old record. She became the second Indian after Mithali Raj to top the women’s T20 batting rankings. Verma was the third-highest scorer at the World Cup and had hit more sixes than anyone in the tournament.
Verma hails from Rohtak, Haryana, and has already secured some notable milestones in her early career. She is the youngest male or female cricketer to represent the national side on an international level which breaks the record of her Idol Sachin Tendulkar. She also became the second-youngest player to score a half-century in T20I format — men or women.
Shafali Verma represented Haryana women at the domestic level and had also played for Velocity in Women’s T20 Tournament held earlier this year in Jaipur. She started her career only five years ago. In a short span, she has already played three seasons for Haryana. She was strategically chosen for the national team because she can hit the ball hard and that is what the women’s T20 team needed.
Also Read: Shafali Verma: India’s Youngest Shining Star Of Cricket
Smriti Mandhana
The stellar batswoman was awarded the ODI Player of the Year by ICC in 2019. The talented player received the award after her outstanding performance at the Women’s T20 Challenge. She is only the second Indian woman to win an International Cricket Council award.
Smriti Mandhana also made it to the ‘Forbes India 30 Under 30’ list last year. She also became the second-fastest Indian after Shikhar Dhawan, and the third-fastest woman after Belinda Clark and Meg Lanning to score 2,000 runs in one-day internationals. Batting with a great pace, the star batswoman returned to the ODI team after recovering from a toe injury and hit a fantastic fifty against West Indies in Antigua to collect 2,000 runs in ODI cricket. Thus, she became only the second fastest Indian to reach the milestone. Dhawan (48 innings) is the only other Indian to hold the record score of 2,000 runs in 50-overs cricket while Virat Kohli touched the mark in 53 innings.
In April last year, she was awarded ‘Women’s Leading Cricketer of the Year’ in the 2018 edition of the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack. She was also awarded the Arjuna Award last year by the Union Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Kiren Rijeju in a ceremony held in New Delhi.
Also Read: Meet Summayah Jan: Kashmir’s Chief Female Cricket Coach
Jemimah Rodrigues
Mumbai’s rising cricketer Jemimah Rodrigues loved sports as a kid and found her true calling in cricket after following her brother’s footsteps. An 18-year-old Rodrigues made her international debut in 2018. She made headlines in 2017 by scoring 202 in an Under-19 One-day tournament and has been showcasing brilliant batting style. She scored an unbeaten 77 off just 48 balls to enter the final of the Women’s T20 Challenge earlier last year.
She is the second woman after Smriti Mandhana to score a double-hundred in 50-over cricket. She received the honour at this young age because of her excellent run in the domestic season. Moreover, she finished as the third-highest run-getter in the Challenger Trophy in 2018.
Also Read: No Big Bash League For Harmanpreet, Mandhana Or Jemimah Rodrigues
Rodrigues’ record-breaking knock in an Under-19 one-day tournament has paved way for a sure shot entry into the international team. She has now honed her skill as a batswoman; she had started out as a bowler. Now, as a top-order batswoman, Jemimah Rodriguesnormally opens and bats at number three.
Congrats and all the best to these players!
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