After registering a thrilling victory in their tournament opener against Pakistan, Harmanpreet Kaur-led Team India faces West Indies in the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa on Wednesday. India will eye a top berth in Group B with the match against the Caribbean side, who are at the bottom of the table after losing their opening game to England by 7 wickets. India are at the second spot in the table with two points. Their net run rate is +0.497. England top the table with four points and a net run rate of +2.497.
An update on Smriti Mandhana, who missed the first game due to a finger injury, is still awaited. In case, the player is fit for the first game, India might try to rope her in by replacing Yastika Bhatia.
Here is what we think could be India’s playing XI for match against West Indies –
Yastika Bhatia/Smriti Mandhana: Yasktika failed to impress in the warm-up matches while her performance in the first match against Pakistan was no different. She is India’s opener in absence of team’s regular Smriti Mandhana. The latter’s possible return might see Yastika warm the bench.
Shafali Verma: The right-handed batter scored 33 runs off 25 balls in India’s T20 World Cup opener. Shafali is a power-hitting, who provides India quick starts. After leading the U-19 Women’s team to the World Cup title as skipper, she must be high on confidence.
Jemimah Rodrigues: The 22-year-old will be on the spotlight after bagging the Player of the Match award against Pakistan. It was Jemimah Rodrigues’ 53 not out off 38 balls that paved the way for India in a thrilling 7-wicket win over Pakistan.
Harmanpreet Kaur: After having a decent outing in the recently concluded Tri-Series against South Africa and West Indies, the Indian skipper scored only 16 runs off 12 balls in first game of the ongoing T20 World Cup. She would be eager to register a big score in upcoming games.
Richa Ghosh: The 19-year-old batter, who is known for her hard-hitting prowess, didn’t disappoint in the first game as she scored 31 not out off 20 balls, playing a crucial role in India’s win against Pakistan.
Harleen Deol: The 24-year-old all-rounder took India to a respectable total of 109/4 in a Tri-Series final against South Africa, with her knock of 46 runs. However, she failed in the warm-up match against Australia and Bangladesh with scores of 12 and 10 runs, respectivley. She didn’t get a chance to bat in India’s tournament opener.
Pooja Vastrakar: The 23-year-old bowling all-rounder had scalped one wicket while giving away 30 runs in four overs in the first game against Pakistan. She has an impressive economy of 6.07 in T20Is.
Deepti Sharma: The 25-year-old all-rounder was costly in India’s tournament opener as she leaked 39 runs in her four-over spell. Besides being a quality off-spinnner, Deepti is equally good with the bat.
Radha Yadav: The left-arm orthodox was really impressive with the ball in the first game. She returned figures of 2 for 21 while bowling four overs, being India’s pick of the bowlers.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad: The 31-year-old gave away 31 runs across four overs and failed to take any wicket against Pakistan. Rajeshwari , a left-arm orthodox, would look to put up a better performance in the match against West Indies.
Renuka Singh: The right-arm pacer, who is famous for swing bowling, remained wicketless in the first game while conceding at an economy rate of 8 during her three-over spell.
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