1st T20I: Under-fire Harmanpreet's India face gritty West Indies

NAVI MUMBAI:  Her poor leadership under constant scanner, a beleaguered Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur will need to quickly pick up pieces from the Australia series debacle as hosts take on West Indies in the opening game of the three-match WT20I series starting here on Sunday.

India have won each of their last eight T20Is against the West Indies in the shortest format since November 2019.

But to maintain this dominating run, India will have to dig deep from rapidly depleting reservoirs of both resources and confidence to keep the ship afloat.

It has not been a smooth ride for the Indian skipper whose questionable selection calls during the Australia ODI series left everyone wondering as to how long the national selectors will persist with her despite Smriti Mandhana well and truly ready to take over the mantle.

This is India's first T20 series after the inglorious T20 World Cup exit where the only consolation was a hard-earned win against Pakistan.

India after that won an ODI series against New Zealand at home and were blanked by Australia during the subsequent 50 over series Down Under.

While Harmanpreet's own batting form has been better than many, it is her unimaginative leadership that is causing a lot of problems as the team is still playing archaic brand of cricket across both white ball formats.

The profligate Shafali Verma has been ignored by the selectors once again even though her chances of doing well in T20Is in Indian conditions is way better where she can employ her cross batted game.

First-up, India will need a quick turnaround from their forgettable ODI tour of Australia which ended in a 0-3 rout with the visitors being thoroughly outplayed in all departments.

Having lost the final ODI in Perth last Wednesday, Kaur and her side will not got enough time to rest and recover as they have made it to the DY Patil Stadium here for the series opener.

The packed schedule — three T20Is with a gap of one day each — will further test the fitness and morale of the team that is low on confidence and without their preferred players in Pooja Vastrakar, Shreyanka Patil, Yastika Bhatia, Priya Punia and most importantly, Verma.

The biggest challenge for the Indian camp would be to deal with the absence of Verma — country’s second highest run-getter in the format in 2024 with 531 runs in 20 matches at 33.18 with a strike rate of 126.73.

Verma was excluded from the ODI tour of Australia on the basis of her performances in the 50-overs format, but being ignored for a format in which she has been the second best batter this year is incomprehensible.

Verma’s absence forced the team to push Richa Ghosh, a proven performer in lower-order when quick runs are needed, to open the innings as her replacement Punia also suffered an injury.

Similarly, Indian selectors looked away from fast bowler Arundhati Reddy, who recorded the second-best figures of 10-2-26-4 for any Indian in ODIs in Australia just three days ago.

Reddy also was India’s joint-highest wicket-taker in the T20 World Cup a few months ago, in which the team failed to go past the first round.

Mandhana has been India’s most successful batter with 570 runs in 20 matches at 38, but these have come at an ordinary strike take of 118.25.

Kaur, who hit two fifties in her last two T20I innings, will be crucial in the middle-order once again given Jemimah Rodrigues has had a forgettable year, with only 219 runs at 27.37 with a strike rate of 132.72 and a fifty to show in 15 matches.

Like India, West Indies too haven’t made a major dent in big events but they have recorded wins in nine out of their 13 T20Is this year.

Among those wins were West Indies’ famous triumph over England in the T20 World Cup, in which the young Qiana Joseph teamed up with skipper Hayley Matthews to lead the demolition job.

The West Indies have called in Deandra Dottin but will be without senior all-rounder Stafanie Taylor, who is injured.

With the tour commencing on the day of the WPL mini-auction, it would still present the visitors a chance to impress the franchises.

Teams:

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Nandini Kashyap, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Uma Chetry (wk), Deepti Sharma, Sajeevan Sajana, Raghvi Bist, Renuka Thakur, Priya Mishra, Titas Sadhu, Saima Thakor, Minnu Mani, Radha Yadav.

West Indies: Hayley Matthews (c), Shemaine Campbelle (vc), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shamilia Connell, Nerissa Crafton, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Shabika Gajnabi, Chinelle Henry, Zaida James, Qiana Joseph, Mandy Mangru, Ashmini Munisar, Karishma Ramharack, Rashada Williams.