Outplayed in the five-match One-day International series , India will look to start afresh in the three-match T20 series against South Afri...
Outplayed in the five-match One-day International series, India will look to start afresh in the three-match T20 series against South Africa, beginning in Lucknow on Saturday. But they will be without captain Harmanpreet Kaur in the series opener due to an injury.
Apart from the nine-wicket win in the second match, the hosts failed to fire as a unit against their South African counterparts, who looked in good rhythm throughout the series. In the words of skipper Mithali Raj, India was underprepared in their first international series in a year.
But after five ODI games, the last T20 World Cup’s runners-up will be hoping to redeem themselves in the shorter format with a relatively different team lineup.
The big lessons for underprepared India after comprehensive ODI series loss
Teen sensation Shafali Verma will be back as the opener to partner stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana. In the ODIs, India missed a consistent start with Jemimah Rodrigues short of runs. Verma’s last international outing was the 2020 T20 World Cup, where she was the standout player for India.
Harleen Deol and Richa Ghosh will also look to make use of the chances that they get to show their skills in the middle order.
Without injured Harmanpreet and retired Mithali Raj and ODI specialist Punam Raut...
