Rajkot, January 9
A confident Indian team, led by Smriti Mandhana, will take on Ireland in the first women’s bilateral one-day series starting on Friday after a brilliant performance against the West Indies. Meanwhile, his eyes will be on maintaining the winning streak. India beat the West Indies 3-0 in the ODI series and 2-1 in the T20I.
Mandhana has scored the most runs in both forms of cricket, including 148 runs in ODI series and 193 runs in T20Is. Mandhana will want to continue the same pace in the series against Ireland.
She will lead the team in the absence of regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur. Harmanpreet and fast bowler Renuka Singh have been rested. In the absence of Harmanpreet and Renuka, the onus will be on Harleen Deol, Pratika Rawal and Jemima Rodrigues to score runs. Deol scored 160 runs in the ODI series while Rawal contributed 134 runs and Jemima 112 runs. Renuka, who took 10 wickets against the West Indies, will be sorely missed in the bowling department. Now new bowlers Titas Sadhu and Saima Thakur will have a big responsibility. The role of off-spinner and vice-captain Deepti Sharma will also be important. He took six wickets for 31 runs in the third ODI against Windies. -News-Patiala
Players included in the teams
India: Smriti Mandhana (captain), Deepti Sharma, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemima Rodriguez, Uma Chhetri, Richa Ghosh, Tejal Hasambis, Raghvi Bisht, Minnu Mani, Priya Mishra, Tanuja Kanwar, Titas Sadhu, Saima Thakur, Sayali Satghare.
Ireland: Gabby Lewis (capt), Ava Canning, Christina Coulter Reilly, Alana Dalzell, Laura Delaney, Georgina Dempsey, Sarah Forbes, Arlene Kelly, Joanna Loughran, Amy Maguire, Lee Paul, Orla Prendergast, Una Raymond Hoy, Freya Sergeant, Rebecca Stoeckel.
Ireland ready to face Indian challenge: Gabby
India’s challenge will be tough for the Ireland team captained by Gabby Lewis. Ireland have not beaten India even once in 12 ODIs so far. The last time the two teams met was in the 2023 T20 World Cup when India won by five runs. Ireland captain Gabby said, “Our team has participated in every training session over the last three days. We will go into the first game with the intention of winning.”
