India women's cricket national team were without star batter and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana for their Wankhede bout with Australia, as such, Saika Ishaque received her maiden cap for the Women in Blue. Here's why Mandhana missed out
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bat against Australia in the opening women's ODI of the three-match series at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Thursday. (IND-W Vs AUS-W Live Blog | IND Vs RSA Day 3 Blog | IND-W Vs AUS-W Score | More Sports News)
Left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque, who got her first T20I cap against England earlier this month, made her ODI debut but Kaur & Co were dealt a massive blow. The Indian women playing XI didn't feature vice-captain and opener Smriti Mandhana.
Mandhana, 27, was unwell and unavailable for selection. In her absence, Yastika Bhatia was promoted to pen with Shafali Verma. Mandhana has so far played 77 ODIs, and scored 3,073 runs at an average of 43.28. The left-handed batter has five centuries and 25 fifties with the highest score of 135.
Ishaque, 28, was one of the four uncapped (ODI) players named in the Indian squad for the series.
India won the preceding one-off Test against Australia. The two teams will continue their rivalry in the shortest format of the game too. After the Wankhede ODI leg -- 2nd on December 30 and January 2, they will move to Navi Mumbai for the T20Is, where they will play three games on January 5, 7 and 9.
For the visitors, pacer Darcie Brown returned from the injury from the hamstring injury which she suffered during the home series against the West Indies in October.
India XI for the first ODI: Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, Richa Ghosh, Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Thakur Singh, Saika Ishaque.
Australia XI for the first ODI: Phoebe Litchfield, Alyssa Healy (c & wk), Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ashleigh Gardner, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham, Alana King, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown.