Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has promised a different approach as India women’s team get ready to take on hosts England in the first of the three WT20Is at County Ground in Northampton on Friday.(More Cricket News)
Harmanpreet’s lack of runs will be in focus once again as she takes on captaincy from Mithali Raj in T20s.
Harman attributed her prolonged lean patch with the bat to lack of preparation following her recovery from a COVID-19 infection and groin injury earlier this year. However, the senior batter is confident of finding her mojo back in the three-match T20 series against England.
Having wowed with her trailblazing 171 not out against Australia in the 2017 World Cup semi-final, Harmanpreet has struggled to find her rhythm and has not scored an ODI century since then. In T20s, she's yet to score a fifty since her 103 against New Zealand in November 2018.
England lead the multi-format series 6-4 after a drawn Test and a 2-1 score-line in ODIs. Barring Mithali Raj's remarkable consistency in ODIs, the Indian batting was a disappointment and it is something that the team would want to correct in the three T20s.
England, on the other hand, have brought back opener Danni Wyatt for the T20s following her good run in domestic cricket. She is set to open alongside Tammy Beaumont in the absence of Lauren Winfield-Hill. Medium pacer Kate Cross, who took a five-wicket haul during the ODIs, is not part of the T20 squad. (With inputs from Agencies)
Match and telecast details
Match: 1st WT20I match between England Women and India Women
Date: July 9 (Friday), 2021
Time: 11:00 PM IST
Venue: County Ground in Northampton
TV Channels: Sony Sports Network
Live Streaming: SonyLIV
Likely XIs
England: Danni Wyatt, Tammy Beaumont, Heather Knight (C), Amy Jones (wk), Natalie Sciver, Sophia Dunkley, Anya Shrubsole, Katherine Brunt, Sophie Ecclestone, Sarah Glenn, Natasha Farrant
India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Poonam Yadav.
T20I Squads
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain) Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy (wicket-keeper), Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Simaran Dil Bahadur.
England: Heather Knight (captain), Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Freya Davies, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Tash Farrant, Sarah Glenn, Amy Jones, Nat Sciver, Anya Shrubsole, Mady Villiers, Fran Wilson, Danni Wyatt.
