Tag: Smriti Mandhana

INDW vs SAW: Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur ruled out of T20I opener against South Africa | Cricket News – Times of India

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LUCKNOW: India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has been ruled out of the opening women’s T20 International of the three-match series against South Africa here due to an injury, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana said on Friday.
Harmanpreet suffered a hip-flexor injury while batting in the fifth ODI against the same opponents on Wednesday.
The series opener will be held on Saturday.
“She (Harmanpreet) is out of tomorrow’s match and rest of the update on her condition will be given by the medical team,” Mandhana, a left-handed opener, said during a virtual pre-match press conference.
India were outplayed by South Africa in the women’s ODI series with the visitors pocketing the rubber 1-4.
But Mandhana said the ODI series is a thing of the past as their focus shifts to the T20 rubber.
“We will try to forget the ODIs and focus on the T20 series. Yes, the ODI series was a disappointment but we need to forget that and move ahead. Some new faces have come in the team, so we need to think fresh,” Mandhana said.
“We had a discussion on how to go about our preparation, what went wrong in the ODI series and how to go forward. We now need to concentrate on the T20s. We are now looking at the ODI series as a preparation for T20 series.”
The Indian women were very sloppy in the field during the ODI series and Mandhana stressed on working on that aspect of the game.
“We have been in the process in the last 3-4 years. Few catches haave dropped in the ODis, but we need to get on with a fresh mind in the T20 series and leave behind the ODI series disappointment,” she said.
She also pointed out that the spinners, India’s biggest strength, need to pull up their socks in the T20 series.
“Spinners are our biggest stregnth. Definitely, they (spinners) were not bad but inconsistent in their bowling (in the ODI series). But if we keep pitching the ball in the same same areas, it will become difficult for batters,” Mandhana said.

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Mithali Raj becomes first woman cricketer to complete 7,000 ODI runs | Cricket News – Times of India

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LUCKNOW: Veteran batter Mithali Raj on Sunday added another feather to her cap by becoming the first player to complete 7,000 runs in women’s ODI cricket.
The Indian skipper reached the 7,000-run milestone in her 213th match, which was the fourth ODI of the ongoing five-match series against South Africa here.
“Magnificent Mithali! #TeamIndia ODI skipper becomes the first woman cricketer to score 7000 ODI runs. What a performer she has been!” the BCCI tweeted.

The 38-year-old, who made her international debut in 1999, was also the first player to score 6,000 runs in women’s ODIs. England’s Charlotte Edwards, who retired from international cricket in 2016, is second the list of leading run scorers with 5,992.
Mitahli scored a 71-ball 45 before being dismissed by medium pacer Tumi Sekhukhune in the 38th over of the fourth ODI. She hit four boundaries during her stay in the middle.
On Friday, during the third match, Mithali had become the first Indian player and only the second internationally to complete 10,000 runs across all formats.



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India’s World Cup preparation to begin with home series against South Africa | Cricket News – Times of India

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LUCKNOW: The Indian women’s team will finally get to shake off the rust after 12 months of no international cricket and start their ODI World Cup preparation with the five-match series against South Africa beginning here on Sunday.
While the South Africans come into the series fresh from their home rubber against Pakistan last month, the Indians last played on March 8, 2020 when they lost to Australia in the T20 World Cup final.
The quarantine protocol in COVID times have given only two days of nets to both the teams, making it tougher for the players to be at their best from the word go.
It can be safely said that the Indians have fallen behind in their World Cup preparation compared to the likes of England, New Zealand and Australia, who have played more regularly amid the pandemic.
The new selection committee has come in with its own vision and picked six uncapped players for the eight match contest also comprising three T20s, leaving out senior players like Shikha Pandey, Taniya Bhatia and Veda Krishnamurthy. The non- selection of T20 star Shafali Verma for the ODIs has also raised a few eyebrows.
Harmanpreet Kaur, who is Mithali Raj‘s deputy in ODIs and T20 captain, insisted that rustiness will not be an issue for them and the players are itching to take the field after a long gap.
“It was a long break but sometimes things are not under your control, now we are getting to play cricket and we have to ensure we use this time and make our best combination for the upcoming tournaments,” Harmanpreet, who will be playing her 100th ODI on Sunday, had said two days before the series opener.
Though the players did not get much game time over the past one year, they ensured their fitness remained unaffected. Some of the players, including Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma, used the free time to play in club tournaments as they did not know when the next India assignment would come.
With the ODI World Cup scheduled in New Zealand early next year, the team needs to explore options in the middle-order and the pace department.
South Africa, who recently beat Pakistan 3-0, will miss the services of their regular skipper Dane van Niekerk and all-rounder Chloe Tyron for the India tour. Sune Luus will lead the side in Niekerk’s absence.
The visitors got very little time to get used to the conditions but they go into the series with a lot more match time than the hosts.
All the games will be played at state of the art Ekana Stadium with crowd capacity capped at 10 per cent.
Teams (from):
India women: Mithali Raj (captain), Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur, D Hemalatha, Deepti Sharma, Sushma Verma (wicket-keeper), Swetha Verma, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Mansi Joshi, Poonam Yadav, C Prathyusha, Monica Patel.
South Africa women: Sune Luus (captain), Ayabonga Khaka, Shabnim Ismail, Laura Wolvaardt, Trisha Chetty, Sinalo Jafta, Tasmin Britz, Marizanne Kapp, Nondumiso Shangase, Lizelle Lee, Anneke Bosch, Faye Tunnicliffe, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Mignon du Preez, Nadine de Klerk, Lara Goodall, Tumi Sekhukhune.
Match starts at 9 am.

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