Smriti Mandhana is on the brink of achieving an unprecedented milestone in women’s cricket, with her stunning form in 2025 putting her within reach of becoming the first batter to score 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year.
The left-hander, who was named Wisden’s Leading Woman Cricketer for 2024 after scoring 747 ODI runs at an average of 57.46 with four centuries, has carried her form into this year with remarkable consistency.
In 13 ODIs so far, she has scored 803 runs at 61.76, with three hundreds and three fifties, including a breathtaking 117 off 91 balls against Australia in the second ODI at Mullanpur. That innings was her fastest century against Australia and her 12th in ODIs, further strengthening her credentials as one of the finest batters in the modern game.
The record for the most ODI runs in a women’s calendar year currently belongs to Belinda Clark, who amassed 970 runs in 1997, narrowly missing the 1,000-run mark.
Since then, Laura Wolvaardt (882 in 2022), Debbie Hockley (880 in 1997), and Amy Satterthwaite (853 in 2016) have come close, but none have surpassed Clark’s tally. With 803 runs already, Mandhana joins an elite group of only eight women who have scored 800 or more ODI runs in a single year.
For Mandhana, the equation is simple: she needs 197 more runs to cross 1,000. Based on her current average, she would require around four innings to reach the mark. India’s schedule works in her favor, with at least eight more ODIs to play this year, including the Women’s World Cup, and potentially 10 if India reach the final.
Even a modest run of form should see her cross the landmark, unless she suffers an unusually poor campaign. Given her current momentum and India’s packed fixture list, Mandhana looks well-positioned to script history by becoming the first women’s cricketer to scale the 1,000-run peak in a calendar year.
