India women’s team eyes fresh start against SL

DAMBULLA: The India women’s team will eye a fresh start under new all-format skipper Harmanpreet Kaur against Sri Lanka in the three-match T20I series that starts here on Thursday.

With the T20s all set to feature in the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and with the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup eight months away, India will look to begin its campaign on a high.

This will be the first international assignment for the India women since the disappointment at the 2022 Women’s ODI World Cup.

On the personal front, Harmanpreet will target a milestone. The 33-year-old batter, who has amassed 2,319 runs from 121 matches, needs another 46 to eclipse Mithali Raj’s numbers in the shortest format. On the eve of the match, Harmanpreet said that fielding is one area the team is laying a lot of emphasis on.

“As a team, there are quite a few areas we are currently working on to improve, keeping in mind this particular series against Sri Lanka. While our core strength lies in batting, we are putting in extra effort to improve our fielding skills,” Harmanpreet said in the pre-match press conference. “All our top batters and bowlers are fit and we expect to give our very best,” added Harmanpreet. The spotlight will also be on vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and head coach Ramesh Powar, who helped record a seven-match winning streak in the last T20 World Cup before India was knocked out in the semi-finals by South Africa.

India last played a one-off match against New Zealand in the shortest format in February, which it lost. But heading into the upcoming series, the likes of Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar will be immensely confident.

Meanwhile, host Sri Lanka will start the series on the back foot as it was recently whitewashed 0-3 by Pakistan in a T20I series. However, the Indians will have to remain vigilant against the likes of veterans Oshadi Ranasinghe and Chamari Athapaththu.

Going by current form and world rankings, India will start as the favourite, with the home team needing to raise its game by leaps and bounds.