Happy birthday, Smriti Mandhana – the fearless warrior who made “What’s up, Danger” her very own anthem

Whenever you hear the name Smriti Mandhana, the first and foremost thing that comes to your mind is the destruction that she inflicts upon the bowlers, the menace that she brings to the table with her unreserved belligerence and most importantly the feisty starts that she would get for India following which it is pretty much free-fire for the Indian women with the bat in their hands.

However, how many times have you tested Smriti’s patience and resilience? Well in the shorter formats it’s all about shifting gears at the right time and despite being gruesome and demanding, white-ball cricket won’t exactly probe your soul to its deepest layer.

But then with all said and done, when you are stepping in Carrara, a citadel riddled with all kinds of traps for visitors in every single footfall, with a monster lurking at the end of the tunnel in the shape of the Australian women, you need a lot more than the ken of shuffling through your ammunitions.

You need patience and most importantly you need a tenacity forged in a galaxy far away from our Milky Way to bear the brunt of the Aussie mafia who are downright unforgiving and would keep on throwing at you your worst nightmares coming alive.

But then there are heroes who are not exactly made of the mould that this planet has to offer. They are of a different build altogether and when they step in the yard, all those impediments, all those mountains of odds that are otherwise posed in the shape of an unstoppable monster, fizzle away to ether.

One such hero for India was Mandhana when the Women in Blue played one of their rare Tests against Australia, stepping in the latter’s citadel and challenging their might. At first glance you may think that it is naïve to challenge a giant on its own turf but the hero we were talking about earlier, yes, our birthday star for the day, Mandhana is of that eccentric assortment.

Back in 2021, the Indian women were playing a one-off Test match against Australia and it was slated to be played at Carrara. Put in to bat first, the Indian women sent out two of their finest batting options to play out the danger of the ever-seaming ball whipping out of the hands of Ellyse Perry,  Darcie Brown and Tahlia McGrath. Shafali Verma being the aggressor, led the charge early while Smriti was setting herself up for a massive knock.

Once she was in the groove, she started calling the shots and the Australian bowlers were left with a lot of haywire thoughts in their heads as Mandhana was relentless. Her first signs of aggression came out in the open against Brown, when she pulled the latter through the mid-wicket region for her first boundary of the match.

A ball later, she would slice Brown through the gully for another four as the Australian women would stay rooted to their spots at the sheer brilliance of the strike. Things went way worse for a wobbling Brown as Mandhana went ballistic in the seventh over of the innings, smashing her for 16 runs. The first of the four boundaries came through the point, the second one following somewhat of a similar trajectory only slightly higher, the third one changing ends as it went through the mid-wicket region on the leg-side while the fourth one was again creamed through the point.

The woes kept on piling up for Australia as Mandhana was in rollicking touch. She completed her half-century with a solid punch through the covers against McGrath. Despite an explosive start, towards the end of day one, Smriti applied the brakes on her innings, cooling down her tempo before she resumed the mantle on day two, once again starting to give away signs of danger for the hosts. She brought up her century with an exquisite pull shot against Perry, underlining why she is deemed as one of the best batters that India or the world of women’s cricket has ever seen.

Though her stay in the center didn't last long post getting to the milestonr, her 127 from 216 balls was filled with clinical intensity and absolutely unparalleled passion for the game. She would smack 22 fours and a six during her residence in the center while India managed to procure a crucial draw away from home.

Not every day do you get to turn 27 and not every day do you get to raise your bat against Australia and that too in their backyard. Today is one such day when Smriti Mandhana celebrates and we at RCB wish her an amazing birthday!