February 11, 2023 by admin

Mandhana ruled out of India’s opening tie of T20 World Cup against Pakistan: Sources

Cape Town [South Africa], February 11 (ANI): India suffered a major blow ahead of their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 opener against Pakistan on Sunday as vice-captain Smriti Mandhana has been ruled out due to a finger injury.

She didn’t feature in India’s 52-run win in the second warm-up game against Bangladesh on Wednesday.

“Smriti has got a finger injury, she is still recovering. Most likely, she won’t play tomorrow,” coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar said at a press conference on Saturday.

“It’s just a finger injury, she will be fine before the next game,” he added.

Mandhana, ranked third in the latest ICC Women’s T20I Batting Rankings, has been one of India’s most prolific run-scorers across formats. Her aggregate of 2,651 T20I runs has only been bettered by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur among India batters.

India are placed alongside England, West Indies, Pakistan and Ireland in Group B and two top two teams from the group will progress to the semi-finals.

Reserves: Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh.(ANI)