Smriti Mandhana: Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh only Indians picked in Hundred draft

Women’s Premier League-winning captain Smriti Mandhana and wicketkeeper batter Richa Ghosh were the only Indian players who found takers during the Hundred Draft in London. Mandhana, who led the Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a WPL title last Sunday, was drafted in by Southern Brave Women’s while her teammate Richa found a new home at Birmingham Phoenix Women’s.

The left-handed Mandhana had a good run in the WPL, scoring 300 runs from 10 matches with two fifties, while Richa, who often did the role of a finisher, made 257 runs from 10 matches with two half-centuries and a strike-rate of 142.

Mandhana has already been a part of the Brave dressing room, and notably, she worked alongside Luke Williams here before he joined RCB as the coach during the WPL 2024.

The Phoenix is Richa’s second team in the Hundred as she had earlier donned the jersey of the London Spirit.

However, some other players like Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Shreyanka Patil, who were among the 17 Indian players registered for the draft, could not find bidders during the draft.

Shreyanka, who played for RCB, was the highest wicket-taker during this season’s WPL with 13 wickets from eight matches. But they still have a chance to enter the Hundred as the teams can rope in one more overseas player each through the Vitality Wild Cards.