India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana has confirmed that skipper Harmanpreet Kaur will be leading the team in their crucial Women’s T20 World Cup clash against Sri Lanka, despite an injury scare. Harmanpreet was forced to retire hurt in the previous game against Pakistan due to discomfort in her neck, but Mandhana assured the media that the captain is doing fine and will take the field.
“She (Harman) is doing fine and she will be fine for tomorrow,” Mandhana said during a pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
Harmanpreet had walked off the field while batting on 29 during the game against Pakistan, which India won by six wickets. Despite the win, India’s path to the semi-finals remains precarious after an earlier defeat to New Zealand. With a must-win encounter against Sri Lanka on the horizon, India cannot afford any slip-ups if they hope to advance to the knockout stages.
However, there is still uncertainty surrounding the fitness of all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar, who missed the match against Pakistan. “Pooja, I think the medical team is still working on her. So, the update will come only tomorrow during the match. But yeah, I don’t think I can say anything at the moment,” Mandhana added, leaving the door open on Vastrakar’s potential return.
Challenging conditions, tough opponents
Mandhana, India’s most reliable batter, acknowledged that the slow and tricky pitches in the UAE have made stroke play particularly difficult. So far, Mandhana herself has struggled to find her rhythm, a challenge many batters have faced throughout the tournament.
“Of course, you know in the last match I couldn’t… like I started off fine but then later on I consumed a few dot balls which was a little irritating for me,” Mandhana admitted.
The vice-captain stressed that while India is mindful of the net run rate situation, the team’s priority is winning the match first. “It (run rate) definitely was last match, but as I said, the conditions are a lot different to what you expect as a batter so you are probably thinking to get that run rate high and also you firstly have to win the match first,” she explained.
India’s next challenge is Sri Lanka, a team that stunned them in the final of the Asia Cup not too long ago. The fixture carries enormous weight for India, who are yet to play against Australia and need every victory to secure a semifinal spot.
Reflecting on the conditions, Mandhana noted that no team in the tournament has managed to score beyond 140 runs. “The conditions, I don’t see any except the New Zealand match, we haven’t seen any team go over 140 in the whole tournament, 135-140, be it a day game or a night game, says a lot about the conditions,” she said.
