Smriti Mandhana breaks Rohit Sharma’s record to become India’s leading T20I run

Smriti Mandhana etched her name in the record books on Friday by becoming the Indian cricket team’s leading run-scorer in international T20 cricket during the opening game of the five-match SA-W vs IND-W T20 2026 series.

The 29-year-old Smriti Mandhana made 13 runs in the series opener, but it was enough for her to surpass Rohit Sharma and become India’s leading run-scorer in T20Is across men’s and women’s cricket.

Having drawn level with Rohit Sharma during the Australia tour earlier this year, Mandhana went outright top of the T20I run-scoring charts with a single off Sune Luus.

Smriti Mandhana now has 4244 runs in 161 matches at an average of 30.31 and a strike rate of 124.38. She has 33 fifties and a hundred in WT20Is.

Her 33 fifties is the most made by a player in women’s T20I cricket while her only century in the format came against England in 2025.

Rohit Sharma has scored 4231 runs in 159 matches at an average of 32.05 and a strike rate 140.89 for the Indian men’s cricket team. He retired from T20Is after leading India to the T20 World Cup title in 2024.

The troika of Smriti Mandhana, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are the only Indians to cross the 4000-run mark in T20 International cricket.

Overall, Smriti Mandhana only trails two players for most runs in T20Is across the men’s and women’s cricket.

She is behind New Zealand’s Suzie Bates, who tops the run charts in the women’s T20Is with 4717, and Pakistan’s Babar Azam - the leading scorer in men’s 20-over cricket with 4596 runs.

Smriti Mandhana will return to action on Sunday when India face South Africa in the second match of the five-match T20I series at Kingsmead in Durban. India currently trail the Proteas 1-0 after a loss in the series opener.

Click here to read article