MUMBAI, Feb 21: Indian women will plunge into the three-game ODI rubber against England eves here on Friday with their confidence bolstered by their recent 2-1 series victory against New Zealand in the latter’s backyard.
With it being a short series, the outfit that wins the
opening game, will be at a big advantage going into the next
two clashes with all of them to be played at the Wankhede
Stadium as part of the ICC Championship.
The hosts cannot afford to take England lightly, as
the visiting team boasts of some big names in women’s cricket.
Opener Smriti Mandhana, who amassed 196 runs including
a hundred and a 90 in New Zealand, will be a key player with
the bat for the Indian women’s team.
There are others too such as the experienced captain
Mithali Raj, the first woman cricketer to appear in 200 ODIs.
However, the hosts will miss the aggressive
Harmanpreet Kaur, who was ruled out of the entire series with
an ankle injury and has been replaced byHarleen Deol.
Then there is also the young Jemimah Rodrigues to
shore up the home teams batting.
It would be interesting to see whether Rodrigues or
Punam Raut, who played her last ODI against Sri Lanka in
September 2018, gets a look in.
The Mithali Raj-led team has had middle-order issues
in the past and newly-appointed coach W V Raman would be keen
to sort them as quickly as possible.
But the hosts would not have an easy outing facing the
English attack.
The Indian bowling has an all-round look with the pace
attack being led by veteran Jhulan Goswami and also comprising
the likes of Shikha Pandey and Mansi Joshi.
With spin being a key element on Indian wickets, the
role of slow bowlers Deepti Sharma, Ekta Bisth and Poonav
Yadav in the middle overs would be crucial.
England eves, on the other hand, are a force to reckon
with in the 50-over format. They have experienced campaigners
in the top-order such as Danni Wyatt (746 runs in 61 matches)
and 28-year-old Heather Knight.
Heather, with 2,331 runs to her credit in 86 ODIs,
displayed good form in the practice game against the Board
Presidents XI and showed her anchoring capabilities.
With all-rounders like Sophie Ecceclestone,
experienced pacer Anya Shrubsole and accurate medium pacer Nat
Sciver in the reckoning, England has the bowling attack to
trouble the hosts.
Anya would also take confidence from her four wicket
haul in the warm-up game.
Teams (From):Mithali Raj (Captain), Jhulan Goswami,
Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Taniya
Bhatia (wicket-keeper), R Kalpana (wicket-keeper), Mona
Meshram, Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Shikha
Pandey, Mansi Joshi, Punam Raut, Harleen Deol.
England women: Tammy Beaumont, Katherine Brunt, Kate
Cross, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Georgia Elwiss, Alex
Hartley, Amy Jones, Heather Knight, Laura Marsh, Nat Sciver,
Anya Shrubsole, Sarah Taylor (wicketkeeper), Lauren Winfield
and Danni Wyatt. (AGENCIES)
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