"She can place the ball in gaps as if she is operating with Google locator" - When Gautam Gambhir hailed India women batting star

India women vice-captain Smriti Mandhana has been in sensational form with the willow lately. She was the leading run-getter in the three-match T20I series against the West Indies, hammering 193 runs in three innings at an average of 64.33 and a strike rate of 159.50. She also starred in the ODI series against the Windies, scoring 148 runs in three innings at an average of 49.33.

During the white-ball series against West Indies, Mandhana also broke the record for most international runs in a calendar year in women’s cricket history. Mandhana crossed the 1,600-run mark during the first ODI against West Indies in Vadodara, surpassing South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt (1,593).

In October 2021, former India batter and current head coach of the men's team, Gautam Gambhir, lauded Mandhana as a player who could carry the Indian women’s game for a long period. In a column for The Times of India after the left-hander had scored a century in the pink-ball Test against Australia, Gambhir said:

"Just because she bats left-handed (like me), I am not biased towards Smriti Mandhana. I genuinely believe that along with a few others, she has a pair of shoulders that can carry the Indian women’s game for a long period."

Gambhir had further written how he was highly impressed by the India women batter's reliance on timing as opposed to force:

"Mandhana is easy on the eye, someone who has based her batting on timing rather than power. She operates in partnerships, can place the ball in gaps as if she is operating with a Google locator."

Owing to her heroics in the white-ball series against the West Indies at home, Mandhana moved up to second spot in the ICC Women's batting rankings in both the ODI and T20I formats.

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Smriti Mandhana's batting stats for India women

Mandhana has played 94 ODIs for India women, scoring 3,960 runs at an average of 45 and a strike rate of 85.34, with nine hundreds and 29 fifties. In the T20I format, the 28-year-old has 3,761 runs in 148 matches at an average of 29.38 and a strike rate of 123.27, with 30 half-centuries. She has also played seven Tests, scoring 629 runs at an average of 57.18, with two tons and three fifties.