Smriti Mandhana will lead the Indian women’s team for the three-match ODI series against Ireland, starting January 10 in Rajkot. The announcement came after regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur and fast bowler Renuka Singh were rested to manage their workload.
India’s star opener Smriti Mandhana is within touching distance of top spot of both the T20I and ODI batting rankings after strong performances against the West Indies across both formats.
The difficult period for the Indian team started with a morale-shattering defeat to New Zealand in its opening match of the T20 World Cup. On Thursday, the team exacted revenge of sorts by beating the recently-crowned World Champions and taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
India will go into the T20 World Cup under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Kaur, with Smriti Mandhana the vice-captain.
India stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana stated that the team won't take their semi-final opponent lightly after their group stage concluded on an unbeaten note.
The three teams will compete in the upcoming Women's T20 Challenge to be played from May 23 to May 28 at Pune's MCA stadium.
Indian batter Smriti Mandhana recently smashed a brilliant ton against West Indies in the ongoing ICC Women's ODI World Cup on Saturday.
Following the completion of their multi-format series against Australia, a total of eight Indian women cricketers are competing in the WBBL this season for various teams.
The 25-year-old also said that there is no point in having a conversation about knowing the depth of women's cricket in India without any competition like IPL
After posting a challenging 146/6 wickets, Harmanpreet Kaur's Supernovas restricted the Smriti Mandhana-led Trailblazers to 144/5 wickets in 20 overs.
