Harmanpreet Kaur-lead Team India ready for Bangladesh challenge in 1st T20I
Jul 08, 2023
Dhaka [Bangladesh], July 8 : India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said that her side is well aware that they will be met by some stiff challenges from home team Bangladesh in the first T20I match of the three-match T20I series.
In the three-match T20 series against Bangladesh that starts on Sunday in Mirpur, the Indian women's cricket team will be looking to the young players to seize the moment and the finishers to excel.
The team led by Harmanpreet last competed at the T20 World Cup in South Africa when they suffered a close defeat against Australia in the elimination round.
"Bangladesh are a very good side, they always play good cricket in home conditions. We are ready for the challenge. We have had two or three days to prepare and we feel prepared in all the departments," said Harmanpreet in a pre-match press conference.
Harmanpreet will lead the side in both formats while Smriti Mandhana will act as her deputy in both formats. There are some notable absentees from the squad as senior pacer Shikha Pandey, pacer Renuka Singh Thakur and batter Richa Ghosh have failed to make their place in the squad. Radha Yadav and Rajeshwari Gayakwad are also missing with India opting to go with a relatively inexperienced spin attack.
"They are a very good side and they always play really good cricket in home conditions. They are very competitive when they are playing good cricket and we just want to keep things very simple. Whatever things always gave us a result, we just want to focus on that. We are not going to think about who is better, or who is bad. We just want to focus on the good cricket and that is our goal," said Kaur.
The tour will kick off with a three-match T20I series and the first match will be played on July 9. The second and third matches will be played on July 11 and July 13 respectively.
After a two-day break, the three-match ODI series will kick off on July 16. The second and the third ODI will be played on July 19 and July 22 respectively.
India's T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Devika Vaidya, Uma Chetry (wk), Amanjot Kaur, S. Meghana, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Monica Patel, Rashi Kanojiya, Anusha Bareddy and Minnu Mani.
Bangladesh squad for India T20Is: Nigar Sultana (capt, wk), Nahida Akter, Dilara Akter, Shathi Rani, Shamima Sultana, Sobhana Mostary, Murshida Khatun, Shorna Akter, Ritu Moni, Disha Biswas, Marufa Akter, Sanjida Akter Meghla, Rabeya Khan, Sultana Khatun, Salma Khatun and Fahima Khatun.