England tour of India: Harmanpreet Kaur and Co look to start long home season on winning note

As Harmanpreet Kaur’s India begin their long home season on Wednesday, they would be hoping to right a few wrongs against Heather Knight’s England side in the three-match Twenty20 International series.

This time around, India have a chance to better their dismal record against England considering they have only won seven out of the 27 matches between the two sides in this format. The two teams last squared off at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa earlier this year which England won by 11 runs.

With one World Cup behind them and another to follow in September and October next year, all the upcoming series will be preparation in the lead up to the mega-event. A positive start to the season with a series win over England will instill the confidence needed to push further.

Additionally, the time is opportune for India – the hosts have had a good showing in the shortest format this year by winning a gold medal in the Asian Games, a 2-1 away series win against Bangladesh and also making it to the final of the triangular series between South Africa and West Indies.

The series will also be Amol Muzumdar’s first official assignement since he formally took over as the Indian women’s cricket head coach in October.

The responsibility in the batting order will expectedly rest on Kaur, who is coming off a respectable run in the Women’s Big Bash League, where she scored 321 runs in 14 games at an average of 35.88. She has scored 323 runs in 13 T20Is with three fifties.

Jemimah Rodrigues, who scored 342 runs at 34.20 with one fifty in 16 games, will also be at the centre of attention. Smriti Mandhana, the vice captain of India, is also coming off a good run at The Hundred Women’s competition with 238 runs in nine matches. She scored 369 runs for India this year at an average of 28.08 in 15 matches, including three fifties.

Deepti Sharma, with 19 wickets in 16 matches with a strike rate of 15.89, has been India’s most consistent bowler this year. Minnu Mani, who was the leading wicket-taker for India in the T20I series against Bangladesh, will be expected to step up as well.

Three fresh faces will be representing India in this series – left-arm spinner Mannat Kashyap, spin all-rounder Shreyanka Patil and left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque.

Ishaque, who had a good showing in the inaugural Women’s Premier League season earlier this year, picked up 15 wickets in 10 matches to finish as the joint-third highest wicket-taker. Kashyap was part of the title-winning Indian side in the ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup earlier this year while Patil has been making waves since her performance at the WPL continuing to the Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup.

The aforementioned names along with the likes of pacer Titas Sadhu, spin-bowling all-rounder Kanika Ahuja and seam-bowling all-rounder Amanjot Kaur bring a lot of promise to the side.

Meanwhile, second-ranked England, will look to bounce back from their 1-2 loss to Sri Lanka at home. The players to watch out for will be big-hitting all-rounder Nat Scriver-Brunt, opener Danielle Wyatt and spinner Sophie Ecclestone.

Squads:

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Shreyanka Patil, Mannat Kashyap, Saika Ishaque, Renuka Singh Thakur, Titas Sadhu, Pooja Vastrakar, Kanika Ahuja, Minnu Mani.

England: Lauren Bell, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley, Sophie Ecclestone, Mahika Gaur, Danielle Gibson, Sarah Glenn, Bess Heath (wk), Amy Jones (wk), Freya Kemp, Heather Knight (c), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danielle Wyatt.