10 Powerful Sportswomen Who Made India Proud in 2018

Smriti Mandhana smashing the ball towards off side and watching it going all the way to the boundary

#5 Smriti Mandhana (Cricket)

Women's Cricket World Cup 2017 worked as a catalyst for the rise of women's cricket in India. And the reason behind that was the 'Indian women's cricket team' who without much media hype or administration support stormed into the finals of the event.

Eventually, India lost in the final, but that put forth some interesting names to the cricket fanatics. Smriti Mandhana was the youngest of them all. One year has gone by, but the only thing that didn't change, 'Smriti Mandhana scoring run'.

She is the highest run-getter in the women's one-day and third highest in the women's twenty20 internationals played this year. Mandhana is not only plundering runs in international games but also in the domestic leagues played in England and Australia.

Earlier this year, she became the first woman player from India to bag a contract from Kia Super League. And she went on to score the most runs by a player in a women's T20 league anywhere in the world. She has the record of fastest half-century scored for India in WT20I and joint-fastest in women's T20 to her name.

She is currently out in Australia representing Hobart Hurricanes in Women's Big Bash League. For her outstanding achievements this year, the Indian government awarded her the prestigious award in sports - Arjun Award.