The Better India
There are a handful of things an international cricketer cannot control when she walks out onto a Test match pitch: the weather, the pitch conditions, the umpire’s line of sight, and her menstrual cycle. India’s vice-captain Smriti Mandhana recently decided to talk about the last one — and in doing so, she opened a door that needed opening. In a candid Instagram video, Mandhana recounted what it was like to get her period in the middle of a Test match. The video was personal and unscripted, the kind that rarely surfaces from professional athletes navigating the optics of public life. She described the physical reality of managing her cycle mid-game , and the mindset that kept her on the field. “I play for India, and that's exactly the mindset that keeps me going,” she said. “When you put on the jersey, you have to do justice to the role that has been given to you. Sometimes, your own period pain doesn’t come in between.” That is a remarkable thing to say. But it leaves open the question of what happens when the pain does come in between — when a player needs to act rather than push through. “I remember telling the umpire that this is the most random request I have made — running to wear a pad. The umpire didn’t have a choice because I was also wearing white, and she understood,” she recalled. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ??????? ?? ??????? (@snippetofcricket) Her account raised a question that almost nobody in cricket has answered clearly: what are players actually allowed to do in this situation? Can they leave the field? What happens to a batter who is mid-innings when cramps arrive? For that, we need the rulebook. What cricket’s laws actually say The laws of cricket are maintained by the MCC and applied internationally through the ICC’s playing conditions. Law 24 covers fielder absences and substitutes, and its answers are specific, sometimes counterintuitive, and conspicuously silent on the very situation Mandhana described. Here is what it does say: A substitute fielder is permitted if the umpires are satisfied that a player has been injured, become ill, or has another wholly acceptable reason to leave. A substitute can only field. They cannot bowl, keep wicket, or captain the side. The absent player resumes her full role on return. If a player is off the field for more than eight minutes, a bowling penalty kicks in for the entire duration of the absence. A bowler off for 30 minutes cannot bowl for 30 minutes after returning. A batter who leaves the crease voluntarily is considered “retired out” and can only return with the opposing captain’s consent. Whether a period counts as “illness” under the laws remains genuinely ambiguous. The only full player replacement currently available in cricket is the concussion substitute, introduced in 2019. There is no equivalent provision for menstrual health. The laws of cricket allow a player to leave the field. What they don't do is account for the specific reality female cricketers have always navigated alone. Photograph: ( The New Indian Express ) For a specialist batter like Mandhana, the bowling penalty is irrelevant. But for all-rounders like Deepti Sharma and Nat Sciver-Brunt, a period-related absence could directly cost their team overs at a critical moment — a strategic consequence no male cricketer has ever had to calculate. The bigger picture Mandhana’s willingness to speak publicly is part of a wider, necessary shift in how professional sport deals with female physiology. The statistic sitting uncomfortably behind all of this: nearly 75% of young girls in India gradually drop out of sport because of periods, menstrual discomfort , lack of access to hygiene products, and the social stigma surrounding menstruation. Having one of the best batters in the world address this does something the rulebook alone cannot: it normalises the conversation. It tells the 12-year-old playing her first school match that this happens, that it is manageable, and that the sport has ways of accommodating it, even if those ways remain imperfect. The laws do allow a player to leave the field. They give umpires discretion. But they were not written with this scenario in mind, and the gaps show. The question of what happens to a batter mid-innings has no clear answer. The question of whether the bowling penalty should apply differently to medically necessary absences has not yet been addressed. That is the conversation Mandhana’s video invites administrators to have. She has done the harder part. Now, the laws of the game need to catch up. Sources: ' Smriti Mandhana joins Pee Safe for 'Play in Comfort' initiative on menstrual wellness in sports ': by Adgully Bureau for Adgully, Published on 20 May 2026 ' Whether On The Field Or In Tough Times, Girls Are Ready For Every Challenge: Smriti Mandhana ': by Tripura Star News, Published on 20 May 2026 ' Pee Safe marks Menstrual Hygiene Day with #PlayInComfort initiative featuring Smriti Mandhana ': by Adgully Bureau for Adgully, Published on 28 May 2026
Go to News Site
