Smriti Mandhana reclaims ICC ODI batting No.1 spot in 2025: What it means for India

India's Smriti Mandhana has reclaimed the ICC Women's ODI batting No. 1 ranking for the first time since 2019, ending a six-year wait. She displaced South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt, who lost 19 rating points in the latest update.

Mandhana, 28, currently holds 727 rating points, narrowly ahead of England's Nat Sciver-Brunt and Wolvaardt, both on 719 points. Her recent form has been exceptional, highlighted by her performance in the tri-series in Sri Lanka where she scored 264 runs in five innings at an average of 52.80 and a strike rate of 90.41.

In 2024, Mandhana was named ICC Women’s ODI Cricketer of the Year after amassing a career-best 747 runs in 13 innings. She is also one of only four women to have scored at least 10 ODI centuries, with her 11th century coming in the tri-series final, moving her to third on the list of most hundreds in Women’s ODIs.

Mandhana is the highest run-scorer in ODIs since 2024, with 1260 runs from 21 innings at an average of 60, including six centuries and five fifties. She remains the lone Indian in the top ten ICC ODI batting rankings, with Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur ranked 15th and 16th respectively.

Wolvaardt, who has struggled recently with an average of 28.20 in five ODIs in 2025 and a top score of 43, dropped to joint second alongside Sciver-Brunt. Mandhana’s return to the top spot is a significant boost for India ahead of their upcoming white-ball series against England starting late June.

"Mandhana has been in excellent touch of late, topping the charts for India in the recent tri-series in Sri Lanka," noted analysts, highlighting her consistency and impact.

This milestone underscores Mandhana’s status as a premier batter in women’s cricket and a key figure in India’s cricketing ambitions.

India's Smriti Mandhana reclaimed the ICC Women's ODI batting No. 1 spot in 2025, ending a six-year gap. She displaced South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt, who lost 19 rating points. Mandhana's recent form includes 264 runs in a tri-series and 727 rating points, leading the global rankings.