India playing XI from Smriti Mandhana's international debut - where are they now?
Star Indian batter Smriti Mandhana celebrated her 28th birthday on Thursday. The Indian vice-captain has been quite successful in women's international cricket, scoring more than 7,000 runs.
Shedding some light on her numbers in international cricket, Mandhana has scored 629 runs in seven Tests at a phenomenal average of 57.18. She has 3,585 ODI runs in 85 innings, while in T20I cricket, the left-handed batter has amassed 3,320 runs in 131 innings.
Apart from her brilliant performances in international cricket, Mandhana is also known for her leadership skills. She's the deputy skipper of India, while Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the WPL 2024 trophy under her captaincy earlier this year.
Mandhana's international cricket journey started on April 5, 2013, when she donned the Indian jersey for the first time in a T20I against Bangladesh in Baroda. In this listicle, we look at India's playing XI from that game against Bangladesh and where those players are now.
Openers - Smriti Mandhana and Mona Meshram
Smriti Mandhana opened the batting for India on T20I debut and scored 39 off 36. She batted for 53 minutes and hit four fours. Her opening partner Mona Meshram aggregated 22 at a strike rate of 100. The opening pair added 53 for the first wicket in eight overs.
Mandhana has become one of the most successful women's players of all time now. Meanwhile, Mona's last international appearance came in 2019. She turned up for Central Zone against West Zone in the Senior Women Inter-Zonal Multi Day Trophy earlier this year.
Middle Order - Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Sneha Deepthi, Punam Raut, Swagatika Rath, Niranjana Nagarajan and Sushma Verma (wk)
None of the other Indian batters could impress in that T20I against Bangladesh. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur managed 20, while Sneha Deepthi, Swagatika Rath, Niranjana Nagarajan and Sushma Verma made single digits. Punam Raut chipped in with a 12-ball 13.
Later in the match, Nagarajan opened the bowling for India and returned figures of 22-1. Swagatika bowled three overs, conceding 12 runs at an economy rate of four runs per over.
Kaur is still the captain of the Indian team. Sneha and Rath haven't played any international matches after the home series against Bangladesh in 2013, but Sneha turned up for Delhi Capitals in WPL.
Raut was dropped from the T20I squad in 2014 but continued to represent India in the longer formats till 2021. Nagarajan's last international appearance came in 2016, while her last domestic game was in 2021. Wicketkeeper Sushma's last game for India came in 2021. Gujarat Giants signed her in the WPL, though.
Bowlers - Ritu Dhrub, Ekta Bisht and Poonam Yadav
Like Sneha Deepthi and Swagatika Rath, off-spinner Ritu Dhrub never donned the blue jersey again after the 2013 Bangladesh series. Dhrub bowled a fantastic spell of 20-0, including one maiden over in Smriti Mandhana's debut T20I.
Left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht and leg-spinner Poonam Yadav took five wickets between themselves in that T20I. Bisht was a member of the RCB squad that won the WPL under Smriti Mandhana this year. Yadav's last appearance for India came in 2022. She continues to be active in WPL and domestic cricket.