India women’s team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana has kept her personal life away from the prying eyes of the media, while her cricketing career has soared high in recent times. Mandhana had recently become the highest run-getter in women’s international cricket, surpassing Mithali Raj’s 10868-run record.
She also became the first Indian to score a century in Women’s Asia Cup T20 tournaments and has been the leading run-scorer for India across formats. Her 124 recently during the Women’s Asia Cup 2026 versus Hong Kong also meant that Mandhana now has 18 international tons to her name, the most, going past the record of Meg Lanning and Laura Wolvaardt.
However, she had recently faced a huge setback in her personal life when her wedding to music composer Palash Muchhal was called off. There were no official reasons given by either party. Mandhana hasn't talked about Palash since their marriage broke up.
During a podcast with Raj Shamani, Mandhana was asked about the 'hardest night' of her life. The inspirational cricketer took a long gap before explaining that she is "only going to talk about cricket".
“What has been the hardest night of your life?" Raj Shamani asked Mandhana on his podcast, and she looked to be holding back tears and paused for several seconds before answering.
She indicated "probably some World Cup" but did not specify which tournament or match. The discourse avoided personal or deeply emotional topics, with the clear statement, "I'll only speak about cricket."
Regarding her personality, Mandhana stated that although she doesn't appear to have anger management problems, she does have a lot of fury. Mandhana stated that she does not believe in taking retribution when asked if she does.
"No one resonates with me, but I could get very angry. Don't take panga with me, kind of a thing. Till I don't come in your way, don't come in my way. I won't take revenge, but I'll not forget it either. But I won't do bad things to anyone,” she said.
When asked if she easily forgives people, Mandhana said: "I would forgive but not forget."
