'I have watched you grow' - Mithali Raj congratulates Smriti Mandhana for breaking her all-time record

Smriti Mandhana struck an unbeaten 124 off 64 balls against Hong Kong at Dubai International Stadium on Friday, September 4, to become the leading run-scorer in women's international cricket across all formats. India posted 193/5 and won the match by 137 runs.

She surpassed former India captain Mithali Raj's tally of 10,868 runs across 333 international matches. After Mandhana's stellar achievement, she received praise from Raj, who took to 'X' and congratulated the Indian vice-captain.

"Well deserved, @mandhana_smriti! I’ve watched you grow from a young player into one of the finest batters India has produced. To see you go past my record and become the highest run-scorer in international cricket is a moment I’m genuinely proud of. Here’s to many more runs and milestones. Keep going!" Raj wrote.

Mandhana's innings contained 14 fours and seven sixes. Her aggregate moved to 10,880 runs, clearing Raj's career tally of 10,868, with New Zealand's Suzie Bates third on 10,740. She reached the landmark in 303 international innings, a full 30 fewer than the 333 Raj needed to compile her total.

The 124 was both the highest score by an Indian batter in Women's T20Is and the new peak individual score in Women's Asia Cup history, going past the unbeaten 119 Sri Lanka's Chamari Athapaththu made against Malaysia in Dambulla in 2024.

Mandhana's reaction after the innings break

The century was Mandhana's second in WT20Is, making her the first Indian woman to score multiple hundreds in the format. She has now reached three figures in all three international formats, another first for an Indian woman. Her 18th international hundred across formats also moved her ahead of Australia's Meg Lanning's tally for the most centuries in women's international cricket.

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Mandhana's 93rd fifty-plus score in women's international cricket drew level with Raj's career mark for the most by any player in the game. Her 37th fifty-plus score in WT20Is stands alone as a format record, with Australia's Beth Mooney next on 33. The seven sixes she struck in the innings also took her past Harmanpreet Kaur for the most sixes by an Indian woman in WT20Is. Mandhana is also the fastest woman to 10,000 international runs, having reached that landmark in 280 innings.