With 11 fifty-plus partnerships, Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal have torn down the record books, accumulating 1200 runs in 15 innings, including 958 in 2025 till now. Heading into the home World Cup, it’s an encouraging sign, given the opening duo have compiled those runs at 6.06 per over, the prolific count giving them a world record of most runs in a calendar year.
Mandhana, who regained her No 1 spot in ICC rankings, stitched a 114-stand with Rawal in the last ODI against Australia, which was the third highest partnership in women’s cricket. While the former scored 58 in 63 balls, Rawal made 64 in 96 and their stand helped India get to a score of 281/7 in 50 overs. However, Australia ended up cruising to the target and beat India by eight wickets, with opener Phoebe Litchfield scoring 88 in 80 balls and Beth Mooney finishing unbeaten on 77 off 74.
The fact remains, though, that Mandhana and Rawal have formed the fulcrum of India’s batting. The two lead ahead of Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, and will need to give India good starts just like the 5 century partnerships they have been involved in.
Speaking to JioHotstar after their 114 (129) at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Stadium at Mullanpur, Rawal said, “It’s a no-brainer, I enjoy batting with her (Mandhana) more than she enjoys batting with me. It’s always great batting with her and the way she takes on every ball is so amazing to see.” The duo broke the 905 run partnership record of Lisa Keightley and Belinda Clark after Mandhana scored 58 (6×4, 2×6). The two average 80.66.
The pitch was on the slower side, after a rain soaked leadup against Australia and though the Indians lost, the openers did well even as bowlers varied the pace very well which explained the slower run-rate.
“We have an amazing spin side and the way the bowlers are bowling since this year, I think it’s gonna be great for us,” she added.
India’s previous openers included Jaya Sharma-Karuna Jain who shared five 100-run plus opening stands. Sharma also combined with Anju Jain for 5 100+ stands albeit from 27 innings.
