Smriti Mandhana has written yet another record to her name as she played the first Women's Test match at Lords in England. The Indian Women's test team and England Women's Test team have already established
themselves in the papers of history as they came together to play a test match at the Lords Stadium in England for the first time. Since the establishment of MCC and its dominance by the male committee members, the English women's cricket team had not played a single test match at the Mecca of cricket.
Both the teams returned to the Lord's stadium after heartbreaks in the recently held, Women's T20 World Cup, where the England team emerged runners up and lost their only game in the tournament against Australia at the finals, while India were knocked out of the tournament even before the Semi-finals began as they suffered losses against the Proteas Women and Australian team.
As Mandhanan stepped into the stadium today, she became the third Indian woman to play 300 matches for India following her captain Harmanpreet Kaur who has played 374 matches which include 8 test matches, 164 ODIs and 202 T20Is. While the former Indian captain Mithali Raj had played 333 matches which included 12 tests, 232 ODIs and 89 T20Is before she announced her retirement.
Smriti Mandhana played her 300th match at Lords on July 10, 2026 which includes 9 test matches, 120 ODIs and 171 T20Is. The Indian Vice captain is followed by the former Bengal tigress Jhulan Goswami who has played 284 matches of India and Deepti Sharma who has played 280 matches for her country.
Couldn't ask for a better venue: Smriti Mandhana opens up on playing her 300th International match
Smriti Mandhana celebrated her 300th international match for India during the ongoing Test match against England. Reflecting on this monumental occasion, the dynamic opening batter expressed her excitement about reaching the landmark at Lord's, stating, "I remember playing the 2017 World Cup final here at Lord's. I didn't have a great World Cup then, and I didn't know if I'd get the chance to play for India again. So to come back and play my 300th international match at Lord’s, I couldn't ask for a better venue”.
Adjusting from the fast-paced nature of T20 leagues to the ultimate test of red-ball cricket, she opened up about her mindset for the game, explaining, "Whether you get a hundred or a zero, every time you go out there, you start your innings from zero. It's the same with the team. You're going to have good days and bad days, but we'll always take it in stride and try to give our best for the country."
Mandhana emphasized that patience is crucial for India’s top order in the longer format, adding, "For me, the preparation is about adjusting after opening in T20 cricket, where you're expected to score quickly at a high strike rate. In red-ball cricket, you need to watch the ball carefully. Going back to basics is very important. The preparation was all about doing the basic things right and spending long periods at the crease.”
