Northapton. Indian captain Harmanpreet will look to strengthen the batting order, which has been struggling so far, by returning to form in the first T20 match against hosts England on Friday. The only Test on the current tour was a draw, while England won the ODI series 2–1. Harmanpreet hasn’t scored a fifty in the shortest format of the game since November 2018 and would like to set an example by playing big innings. Both the openers Shefali Verma and Smriti Mandhana are in good form but the team needs more consistency in the performance of both these batsmen.
Sneh Rana, who has performed brilliantly on the tour so far, is almost certain to play her first T20 match since February 2016. Along with Shefali, another 17-year-old Richa Ghosh may also find a place in the playing XI against England after a good performance in the home series against South Africa. Apart from Deepti Sharma and Sneh, India have a third all-rounder option in the form of fast bowler Simran Dil Bahadur.
England, on the other hand, has made the return of opener Danny Wyatt in the T20 team after a good performance in domestic cricket. In the absence of Lauren Winfield-Hill, she will open the innings with Tammy Beaumont. Fast bowler Kate Cross, who took five wickets in ODIs, is not part of the T20 team. Let us tell you that before the T20 series, the Indian women’s team has played Test and ODI series against England under the captaincy of Mithali Raj. The only Test played between the two countries was a draw, while in the three-match ODI series, Team India was defeated by 2-1. Now India’s command will be in the hands of Harmanpreet and Team India will try to win this series and make a happy end to the England tour.
Leave a Reply