Smriti Mandhana has struggled to find form in 2025 Women’s World Cup. After a modest performance against Sri Lanka in the opening match, she again fell short against Pakistan, scoring just 23 runs. This innings cost her the chance to break a major world record in ODIs.
Mandhana Fails to Break ODI Runs Record
Had Mandhana scored 43 runs against Pakistan, she would have surpassed the record for most ODI runs in a calendar year, currently held by Australia’s Belinda Clark, who scored 970 runs in 1997.
With 928 runs in 2025 so far, Mandhana remains second on the all-time list, ahead of South Africa’s Lara Woolworth (882 in 2022) and New Zealand’s Debbie Hockley (880 in 1997). She also missed out on becoming only the second Indian to cross 5,000 ODI runs in her career.
Before the World Cup, Smriti Mandhana was in exceptional form during India’s three-match ODI series against Australia. She scored two centuries and one half-century, with innings of 58, 117, and 125 runs, showing her class and consistency.
Despite her World Cup struggles, Mandhana remains a key batter for India and could reclaim her record-breaking form in the upcoming matches.
IND vs PAK – What has happened so far…
At the time of writing this article, India reached 122/3 after 28 overs, with Jemimah and Harleen Deol at the crease. Harleen is approaching a well-earned half-century. The match faced a brief interruption due to an unexpected surge of flies and insects at the stadium.
Earlier, after Pakistan elected to bowl, India’s openers Pratika Rawal (31) and Smriti Mandhana (23) couldn’t capitalize on solid starts. Tensions between the teams continued as India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Pakistan skipper Fatima Sana once again skipped the traditional handshake at the toss.
India playing XI: Pratika Rawal, Smriti Mandhana, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Renuka Singh Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani.
Pakistan playing XI: Muneeba Ali, Sadaf Shamas, Sidra Amin, Rameen Shamim, Aliya Riaz, Sidra Nawaz (wk), Fatima Sana (c), Natalia Pervaiz, Diana Baig, Nashra Sandhu, Sadia Iqbal.
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