‘High time’ – Diana Edulji urges selectors to make Smriti Mandhana captain across all formats

Star India batter Smriti Mandhana achieved a significant milestone in women’s international cricket on September 3, 2026, when she scored 124 off 64 deliveries against Hong Kong at the Women’s Asia Cup T20 in Dubai. This performance took her tally to 10,880 runs in women’s internationals, surpassing Mithali Raj’s previous record of 10,868 runs. The achievement marked another landmark moment in Mandhana’s illustrious international career.

Former Indian cricketer Diana Edulji responded to Mandhana’s record-breaking performance by advocating for her elevation to the captaincy across all three formats. Edulji urged the national women’s selection committee, led by Amita Sharma, to consider this significant change in leadership. Her statement came as recognition of Mandhana’s consistent excellence and sustained performance at the international level.

“I congratulate Smriti Mandhana on becoming the leading run-getter in women’s internationals. I feel that it’s high time that the national women’s selection committee, led by Amita Sharma, appoints Smriti as the new captain in all three formats of the game. Harmanpreet Kaur can continue to play as a senior player in the side,” Edulji was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

Mandhana’s century record and consistency

Mandhana’s record-breaking achievement extends beyond her run-scoring milestone. She surpassed Meg Lanning for the most centuries across ODI, Test and T20I cricket with 18 hundreds to her name. The Indian batter also became the first Indian woman to score two centuries in T20I cricket. Her century tally comprises 2 T20I hundreds, 2 Test hundreds and 14 ODI hundreds, demonstrating her consistency across all three formats.

Beyond centuries, Mandhana has accumulated 93 fifty-plus scores across all formats, a tally she shares jointly with Mithali Raj. This consistency across formats demonstrates her sustained performance at the international level. The 30-year-old batter has established herself as one of the most prolific run-getters in women’s cricket history, with her records spanning nearly a decade of international cricket.

Smriti’s Readiness for captaincy role

In July, when Mandhana was asked whether she was ready to take on the India captaincy, she had replied, “Yes, of course, I am ready!”