Smriti Mandhana to lead India for first time as T20 series against Zimbabwe begins in Raipur
Smriti Mandhana takes over the captaincy after Harmanpreet Kaur stepped down, with the first of three T20s against Zimbabwe due in Raipur tomorrow.
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The Indian women's cricket team will take the field against Zimbabwe from tomorrow. A three-match T20 series between the two sides will be played in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The Indian team is due to play a series of ODIs and T20s against Zimbabwe, and it begins with these T20 matches in Raipur.
The team will show a major change in this series. After Harmanpreet Kaur gave up the captaincy, star batter Smriti Mandhana has been handed charge of the side. Her journey as captain begins tomorrow. Smriti will try to win the series and begin her captaincy with a victory.
She already has captaincy experience. Leading Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Smriti Mandhana has guided the team to the Women's Premier League (WPL) title twice. The India national team, whose entire responsibility now rests with her, will benefit from the captaincy and experience she has shown in the league.
In batting too, Smriti is in superb form at present. She has emerged as the leading run-scorer in women's T20 internationals. She has played 179 T20 internationals so far and scored 4,867 runs in them.
The Indian squad is: Smriti Mandhana (captain), Shafali Verma (vice-captain), Nikki Prasad, Harmanpreet Kaur, Anushka Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), G. Kamalini (wicketkeeper), Deepti Sharma, Prema Rawat, Shree Charani, Nandini Sharma, Kranti Goud, Arundhati Reddy, Jintimani Kalita and Minnu Mani.
The Zimbabwe squad includes Josephine Ncomo (captain), Beloved Biza, Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, Kelis Ndhlovu, Michelle Mavunga, Francisca Chipare, Olinder Chare, Kudzai Chigora, Nyasha Gwanzura, Nomvelo Sibanda, Loryn Phiri, Chiedza Dhururu, Modester Mupachikwa, Tendai Makusha and Sharne Mayers.
Tomorrow's first T20 in Raipur will thus mark the start of Smriti Mandhana's first test as captain, while Harmanpreet Kaur is part of the team as a player.
