Who Is G Kamalini? 17-YO Tamil Nadu Prodigy Who Replaced Smriti Mandhana In 5th T20I Vs SL

Tamil Nadu prodigy G Kamalini lived her dream on Tuesday, bagging her India cap from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur in Thiruvananthapuram. The 17-year-old became the 90^th woman cricketer to represent India in T20Is as the women in blue took the field against Sri Lanka in the fifth and final T20I of the ongoing series.

Kamlini, a left-handed wicketkeeper batter who can also bowl leg-spin, is a crop of the famous Super Kings Academy. She hogged the limelight last year with her exploits in the Under-19 domestic tournaments, scoring 311 runs in eight matches. She even top-scored with a 79 in the Under-19 tri-series final for India B against South Africa A.

Earlier this year, she made it to the Indian squad, which won the Under-19 Women’s World Cup, under

the leadership of Niki Prasad. Kamilini amassed 143 runs in 7 matches, finishing as the third-highest run-getter of the tournament. Her top knock was an unbeaten 56 from 50 balls against England in the semifinal.

The stuff of dreams 🌟 🧢

Congratulations to 17-year-old G. Kamalini, who receives her T20I cap from #TeamIndia Captain Harmanpreet Kaur 🙌

Updates ▶️ https://t.co/E8eUdWSQXs#INDvSL | @ImHarmanpreet | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/xg0HEsfdOB

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 30, 2025

Even before becoming a world champion, Kamalini hogged the limelight in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 players’ auction. Mumbai Indians showed extraordinary trust in her, signing the teenager for a whopping Rs 1.60 crore.

In February 2025, Kamalini became the youngest debutant in the history of the Women’s Premier League, playing her first game against Gujarat Giants in Vadodara. At 16 years and 213 days, she also became the youngest player ever to feature for the Mumbai Indians across all five of its franchise T20 teams in the world. She played 9 matches for the franchise in WPL 2025 and scored 32 runs.

The left-hander also topped Tamil Nadu’s run charts in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy earlier this year, opening the batting and scoring 297 runs at a strike rate of 110 — the sixth-highest aggregate in the tournament.

On Tuesday, she replaced Smriti Mandhana in India’s playing XI for the 5^th T20I against Sri Lanka.