Mansi Joshi is an Indian cricketer who plays as a bowler for the India women’s national cricket team. She represents Haryana in domestic cricket. In 2023, she was signed up by the franchise team Gujarat Giants for the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
Wiki/Biography
Mansi Joshi was born on Wednesday, 18 August 1993 (age 29 years; as of 2022) in Tehri, Uttarakhand. She spent her early childhood in Tehri at her maternal grandmother’s home. She was passionate about cricket since she was 9 and grew up playing the sport with her friends in her neighbourhood. She moved to Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand when she was in Class 3 after her mother got posted there. When Mansi was in Class 6, she and her mother moved to Rurkee, Punjab. There, an acquaintance of hers recognised her passion for the sport and suggested she enrol in St. Xavier Academy, Rurkee. At that time, Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant was also training in the same academy. Her cricketing journey was kickstarted at 16 when appeared in the trials at Haryana Cricket Association, where she got selected in the state’s U-19 team. The same year, she also played for the state’s senior team. She was in Class 10 at that time. Her Class 10 board exams were clashing with her cricket matches for Haryana; therefore, she dropped out of her school. Consequently, she pursued her Class 10 and 12 from a private institution. While talking about the onset of her cricketing journey in an interview, she said,
When I was 9 years old, I remember playing cricket with my colony friends and cousins. From that time, I started building up interest in cricket. My initial days were difficult and challenging due to lack of cricket knowledge and practice. I had once attended trails at Haryana Cricket Association where I got selected in Under-19 in Senior Women’s state team. This was my first attempt. I never looked back after that and soon started my professional cricket training and practice.”
One day, she visited her friend in Dehradun to play a practice match, where she made acquaintance with Virendra Singh Rautela at St. Joseph’s Cricket Academy. Rautela suggested that Mansi move to Dehradun for better training. Thereafter, her mother got her job transferred to Uttarkashi; meanwhile, Mansi started living with her maternal aunt in Dehradun and trained under coach Rautela at St. Joseph’s Cricket Academy. She lived with her aunt for two years. Following the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup, her mother left her job and moved to Dehradun to live with Mansi, while her father continued to work in Uttarkashi.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 4″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
She has a younger brother and a sister.
Mansi Joshi with her mother
Mansi Joshi with her siblings
Husband & Children
She is unmarried.
Career
Domestic
At 16, she represented Haryana for the first time in domestic cricket in the U19 Category. Apart from that, she has represented North Zone women’s cricket team (2010/11–2016/17) and India Blue (2013/14–2018/19). In the 2022 Women’s T20 Challenge, she played for IPL Supernovas, which beat IPL Velocity by 4 runs in the final.
International
She was named to India’s squad for the T20I component in a series of three T20Is against the West Indies during its tour of India in November 2016. She was not selected in any of her team’s matches in that series. On 26 November 2016, she made her T20 debut against Bangladesh Women at the Asian Institute of Technology Ground, Bangkok during the 2016 Women’s Twenty20 Asia Cup. In her first T20I, she took 1/8 and bagged the player of the match award in only her second game, against Thailand, in which she took 2/8; that game did not have T20I status. She made her ODI debut against Ireland at P Sara Oval, Colombo in the 2017 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier on 10 February 2017. She bagged the title of Player of the Match in a match against Thailand in which she clean bowled Sornnarin Tippoch on 8 February 2017.
Bowled! A brilliant ball from India’s Mansi Joshi clean bowls Thailand’s Sornnarin Tippoch today at the #WWC17 Qualifier in Sri Lanka pic.twitter.com/SYjpwDKXwn
— ICC (@ICC) February 8, 2017
She was a part of the Mithali Raj-led Indian side that finished as the runners-up at the 2017 Women’s World Cup; England won by nine runs. Mansi bagged two wickets against arch-rivals Pakistan in the world cup. After the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup, she suffered a knee injury that kept her out for more than a year. Thereafter, she was named to the ODI squad for a tour of Sri Lanka. In October 2018, she was named to India’s squad for the 2018 ICC Women’s World Twenty20 held in the West Indies. In the 3rd ODI during the South African women’s cricket team in India (2019–20) at Reliance Stadium in Vadodara, Mansi Joshi took a stunning catch to dismiss Nondumiso Shangase. Interestingly, the ball hit bowler Ekta Bisht first, and then, it was diverted towards mid-off, where Joshi undertook brilliant efforts to grab the ball. Although Bisht missed a chance of catching and bowl, Joshi ensured that Bisht gets her credit for the wicket.
Mansi Joshi celebrating a wicket
Women’s Premier League (WPL)
She was bought by the franchise team Gujarat Giants for 30 Lakhs for the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in 2023.
Favourites
- Places to visit / Hangout spot: Her maternal grandmother’s home in Tehri
- Cricket stadium: JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi
Facts/Trivia
- She is a right-arm medium-fast bowler and a right-handed batsman.
- Her petname is Himani. She is also referred to as MJ.
- Her jersey number for India Women is #10. Getting the No. 10 jersey was one of the high points of her life as she grew up idolising the celebrated Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, whose jersey number of India was also #10. In an interview, while talking about the same, she said,
I have grown up idolising him. And somehow I feel his blessings are always with me. It’s because of him that I got the No 10 jersey.”
- However, it was Pakistan’s fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar who inspired Joshi’s bowling. She would also try to emulate Akhtar while playing with the boys in her neighbourhood. Watching her pace, her friends would often call her “Akhtarni.” In an interview, she recalled watching Akhtar On TV during her childhood and said,
Since I was a child, I used to watch cricket and when I used to see Shoaib Akhtar bowling I used to remain glued to the screen. The way he marked his run-up and his style of running quite some distance to bowling his delivery mesmerized me. Looking at him bowl with sheer pace, I was motivated to bowl like him.”
- In her leisure time, she loves watching cartoons.
- On 26 May 2017, she was felicitated by Hindustan Times in the HT Youth Forum for their flagship event featuring the Top 30 under 30.
- She was given Rs. 5 lakhs by the Uttarakhand government on the National Sports Day in Dehradun after returning from the 2017 ICC Women’s World Cup.
- She has an inverted cross and chain tattoo on her left arm.
A picture of Mansi Joshi’s inverted cross and chain tattoo
- She has a tattoo on her right arm.
Mansi Joshi’s tattoo
