Smriti Mandhana ends the year with double delight

In a year where infighting in the Indian women's cricket team was out in the open, the team's vice-captain Smriti Mandhana has been served up a double delight on the final day of 2018. The 22-year-old Mumbai girl was on Monday adjudged the Women's Cricketer of the Year as well as the Women's ODI Player of the Year by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport's governing body.

Mandhana, thus, became only the second Indian woman cricketer to win an ICC award, after fast bowler Jhulan Goswami won the ICC Player of the Year award in 2007.

The southpaw, who opens the batting, notched up 669 runs in 12 ODIs in 2018 at an average of 66.90. Her numbers in the T20 Internationals were equally impressive, scoring 622 runs in 25 T20Is at a strike rate of 130.67.

"The awards are pretty special because as a player, when you score runs, you want the team to win, and then when you get acknowledged for your performances through these awards, it motivates you to work harder and do well for your team," Mandhana said.

Mandhana also played a critical part in India reaching the semi-finals of the ICC Women's World T20 in the West Indies, where she accumulated 178 runs in five outings.

She will be handed over the Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Award for the Women's Cricketer of the Year by the ICC.