Harmanpreet Kaur ruled out of the first T20I against South Africa; Smriti Mandhana to lead

Things got bad to worse for the Indian Women’s team as the T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur has been ruled out of the series opener against South Africa Womens’ team. The first of the three T20Is will be played on Saturday, March 20, 2021, at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. 

In the absence of the regular T20I skipper, the team will be lead by vice-captain Smriti Mandhana. The left-handed opening batsman will be leading the Indian team for only the fifth time in her career and the first time since 2019. The Indian team recently lost the five-match ODI series against South Africa 4-1 in Lucknow. 

After their shocking series, Kaur getting ruled out of the series opener is a huge loss for the Indian team. The team is already without the services of much experienced players, Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami, in T20Is. The duo who have been pillars for the Indian women’s national team over the past two decades have both retired from international T20 cricket. 

Harmanpreet Kaur had to retire hurt during the final ODI against South Africa

During the fifth and final ODI against South Africa, Harmanpreet suffered a hip-flexor injury while batting. She was batting on 30 from 55 balls and was in a partnership with ODI skipper Mithali Raj when she suffered an injury. She immediately retired from the innings and didn’t come to bat again when India had lost the rest of their nine wickets. 

Mandhana, who attended the press conference on the eve of the series opener, gave the information of Kaur getting ruled out. She also said that all the updates on her injury will be given out by the BCCI medical team soon. 

“She has been ruled out of tomorrow’s match and the rest of the updates on her injury will be given by the medical team and the team management. It will be better for them to speak about it rather than me,” Mandhana said at the pre-match press conference. The T20I series will be played entirely in Lucknow, but the matches will be played under lights, unlike the ODI series. 

Mandhana’s record as a T20I captain isn’t really impressive. She had led the T20I team thrice during a series against England women’s team in 2019. Later that year, she led one more time during their West Indies tour of 2019. The team had lost all three matches against England, but the match against West Indies had ended in India’s favour.