Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai
Mumbai, Jun 16: Indian cricket star Smriti Mandhana has been named among TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People in Sports for 2026, emerging as the only Indian to feature on the prestigious global list.
The annual list honours athletes, coaches, administrators, advocates and investors who are shaping the world of sports. This year's edition is headlined by basketball legend LeBron James and includes global sporting icons such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Alcaraz, Rory McIlroy, Eileen Gu and Victor Wembanyama.
Other prominent personalities on the list include South African cricket captain Temba Bavuma, New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson and FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Mandhana, 29, currently serves as vice-captain of the Indian women's cricket team and has established herself as one of the leading figures in world cricket.
In its profile on Mandhana, TIME highlighted her trailblazing achievements, noting that she became the first Indian woman to score a double century in a domestic one-day match and the first woman cricketer from India to register centuries in all three international formats.
The magazine also noted that Mandhana jointly holds the record for the most centuries in women's international cricket, with 17 hundreds to her name.
TIME further highlighted her achievement of becoming the first woman to score more than 1,000 runs in One-Day Internationals during a calendar year.
The publication said that while individual records continue to accumulate, Mandhana takes greater pride in her team's successes.
As captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore Women, she guided the franchise to Women's Premier League titles in 2024 and 2026. She also played a key role as vice-captain of the Indian team that won the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup last year, finishing as the tournament's second-highest run-scorer.
In 2024, Mandhana set a record for the most international runs scored by a woman cricketer across formats in a calendar year and surpassed her own mark the following year.
Her remarkable performances also earned her the title of BBC Indian Sportswoman of the Year for 2025.
The inclusion in TIME's influential list marks another milestone in Mandhana's career and reflects her growing impact on women's cricket both in India and internationally.