The Indian women’s cricket team will return to the cricket field after a gap of almost a year when they take on South Africa women’s team in the first of five ODIs at Lucknow on Sunday (March 7). The vice-captain of the Indian team, Harmanpreet Kaur, spoke to the media ahead of the first one-dayer and said there was ‘excitedness’ but no ‘rustiness’ in the team.
Indian team’s last international game was the Women’s World T20 final against Australia on March 8, 2020 before COVID-19 pandemic struck around the world. Some of the women’s team players took part in the Women’s Challengers games in UAE along with IPL 2020 but most of them have been sidelined unlike the men’s team who have toured Australia and have also been played in a few domestic tournaments like Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 trophy and the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
“We are excited to get back on to the field but there is no rustiness. Sometimes things are not under your control (referring to COVID-19 pandemic),” Harmanpreet said during a virtual press conference on Friday (March 5).
The 31-year-old swashbuckling Punjab batter will be playing in her 100th ODI on Sunday was blissfully unaware of the landmark. In 99 games, Harmanpreet has piled up 2372 runs at an average of 34.88 with three centuries and a career-best score of 171 not out against Australia in the 2017 Women’s 50-over World Cup.
“To tell you the truth I wasn’t even aware that I was playing my 100th game. I am not only excited to play this landmark game but also happy to be finally playing international cricket,” Harmanpreet, who has turned out for international franchises like Lancashire Thunder and Sydney Thunder as well, said.
One of the prominent names missing from the Indian women’s squad for the ODIs and T20s against South Africa is Shikha Pandey – India's leading wicket-taker since her debut in 2014. In 52 games, Shikha has picked up 73 wickets at an excellent average of 21.06 and an economy rate of 3.94.
But Harmanpreet confirmed that Shikha was not dropped but rested for the SA series as the selectors want to try out some new faces.
“It was a tough call not to pick Shikha Pandey. We are just giving her some rest and trying out some other players to find the ideal combination. We have lot of cricket to look forward to after this, so we want a pool of players,” Harmanpreet added.
