SMRITI MANDHANA: THE CRICKET STAR NOW BATTING FOR GIRLS!
World Cup winner and India captain Smriti Mandhana becomes UNICEF India Celebrity Advocate, supporting adolescent girls’ health and opportunities.
In India, cricket fills stadiums and brings people together. One of its brightest stars is Smriti Mandhana. Now she is putting her public profile behind another important ambition: helping girls have the opportunity to thrive.
A remarkable cricket career
Mandhana is the world’s top-ranked women’s ODI batter and captain of India’s women’s team. She was part of the team that won India’s first Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2025.
That year she became the first woman to score more than 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year, with five centuries: innings of at least one hundred runs. She has twice been named ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Year and is an Arjuna Award recipient. In 2026 she became the leading run-scorer in women’s international cricket and women’s T20 internationals.
Her new team: UNICEF
UNICEF India announced her appointment as Celebrity Advocate on the International Day of the Girl Child, 11 October, and published its press release on 12 October. The role focuses on equal opportunities for children and young people, particularly adolescent girls’ empowerment, health and well-being.
She will support opportunities for girls to learn, play, lead and develop their potential. Sachin Tendulkar also welcomed her new role.
An opportunity can change a life
Mandhana says that playing cricket as a child taught her how much encouragement and opportunity matter. She has already supported UNICEF–ICC campaigns on gender equality and life skills, as well as UNICEF’s Promise to Children campaign.
UNICEF India representative Cynthia McCaffrey highlights the value of investing in girls’ rights, leadership and well-being. The appointment places a sporting role model alongside work to remove barriers that still restrict girls’ choices.
Why this story matters to us
A trophy celebrates what someone has achieved. Opening a door for another girl can help her begin. Mandhana’s new role connects her sporting success to an effort to widen those opportunities.
Who gave you your first chance: a coach, a teacher or a grandparent? Perhaps today is a good day to thank them.
The portrait is an archive photograph taken in New Delhi on 5 November 2025. It does not document the UNICEF appointment.
