India women tour South Africa to play 3 ODIs and 5 T20s

The Indian men’s cricket team may be going through a tough time in South Africa after their 1-2 loss at the hands of the hosts in the 3-match Test series. However, they have a reason to smile now as the Men in Blue have opened the ODI series account with a clinical win on Thursday.

Amidst the exciting ODI and T20 series that is lined up for the men’s team, India eves have also set their foot on the South African soil to play a 3-match ODI series and a 5-match T20 series. The Women in Blue play their first ODI against the Proteas on Feb 5. They have arrived much in advance, and are scheduled to play a practice game on Feb 2. This will definitely do a world of good for the women, as they have been away from overseas conditions for quite some time. Though the girls have had a solid domestic season, playing in overseas is a different ball game altogether.

Mithali Raj, who is the highest run getter in women’s ODI cricket, will be leading from the front and will be assisted by T20 sensation Harmanpreet Kaur for the 3-match ODI series. For the T20s, Harmanpreet Kaur will take the charge and will have the aggressive southpaw from Maharashtra; Smriti Mandhana as her deputy.

One name that has made a lot of news is that of the 17-year old Jemimah Rodrigues, who plays for Mumbai. She has had an unbelievable domestic season last year and has grabbed many eyeballs with her scintillating knock of 202 (163) against Saurashtra in a 50-over game. At such a young age, she already plays for Mumbai U-19 and senior team, and is now set to bleed blue in South Africa.    

ODI squad: Mithali Raj (Captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Sushma Verma (wicket-keeper), Ekta Bisht, Smriti Mandhana, Poonam Yadav, Punam Raut, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jemimah Rodrigues, Jhulan Goswami, Deepti Sharma, Shikha Pandey, Mona Meshram, Pooja Vastrakar, Veda Krishnamurthy, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper).

T20 squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Mithali Raj, Veda Krishnamurthy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Anuja Patil, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Nuzhat Parveen (wicket-keeper), Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav.

Source: Female Cricket