After regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was rested, veteran opener Smriti Mandhana was on Monday named captain of the Indian women’s cricket team for the three-match home ODI series against Ireland this month.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also announced rest to fast bowler Renuka Singh Thakur in a release issued here on Monday. This three-match series against Ireland will start from January 10. All its matches will be played in Rajkot.
Harmanpreet suffered a knee injury during the home series against West Indies last month. She could not play the first two T20 International matches due to this injury. He returned to the team in the third T20 International and then led the team in the three-match ODI series. The 35-year-old player had earlier suffered a neck injury during a match against Pakistan in the Women’s T20 World Cup in Dubai in October last year.
The team’s main fast bowler Renuka was adjudged the best player of the series by taking 10 wickets in three matches against West Indies. She has suffered from stress fractures of the back in the past. In such a situation, he has been given rest from the series against Ireland under workload management. The Indian women’s team defeated West Indies 2-1 last month to register its first T20 International series win on home soil for the first time in five years. The team then defeated West Indies 3–0 in the ODI series. With this victory, the team’s morale against Ireland will be greatly boosted.
28 year old Mandhana was in great form in these limited overs series. After scoring three consecutive half-centuries in T20, he also played two half-centuries in ODI.
Indian squad for three-match ODI series against Ireland:
Smriti Mandhana (Captain), Deepti Sharma (Vice-Captain), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Uma Chhetri (WK), Richa Ghosh (WK), Tejal Hasbanis, Raghvi Bist, Minnu Mani, Priya Mishra, Tanuja Kanwar, Titas Sadhu. , Saima Thakor, Sayali Satghare.
Schedule (All matches will be played in Rajkot from 11 am onwards)
