The Indian women’s team begin their five-match T20I series against hosts England on Saturday, and Harmanpreet Kaur‘s side would be hoping to get a hang of the conditions, apart from winning, for the 2026 T20 World Cup, slated to happen in the country. Now, the tournament is almost a year away — to start on June 12, but spending almost a month here, with only prepare them better for the challenge.
New Pace Attack for Team India with Injuries to Renuka & Pooja
The series marks the return of talented opener Shafali Verma and Sneh Rana, with the addition of new names like, Kranti Goud, Sree Charani, and Sayali Satghare, which could pave the way for the future. In fact, Rana would be the one to watch out for, who has not played for Indian since Feb 2023.
Having said that, Team India is dealing with a couple of injuries as well — their main pacers, Renuka Singh and Pooja Vastrakar are not available, and Titas Sadhu isn’t under any consideration. The miss could be immense, as the Indian side lost two matches to the ECB Development Squad, and now the challenge will only be bigger.
Harmanpreet Kaur Unavailable for 1st IND vs ENG T20I
In the first match, regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won’t be available as well, who is slightly under the weather, as confirmed by Smirti Mandhana. On the other hand, all looks well for the hosts. They would be playing under Nat Sciver-Brunt, and have some experienced names such as Amy Jones, Sophie Ecclestone and even Danny Wyatt.
Full Squads
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Sree Charani, Shuchi Upadhyay, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare.
England: Nat Sciver-Brunt (C), Em Arlott, Tammy Beaumont (wk), Lauren Bell, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Lauren Filer, Amy Jones (wk), Paige Scholfield, Linsey Smith, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Issy Wong.
(With inputs from PTI)
