Cape Town: India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana is likely to miss the Women’s T20 World Cup opener against Pakistan to be played Sunday. Smriti Mandhana is yet to recover from a finger injury she suffered during a warm-up game. The 26-year-old opener injured her left middle finger while fielding during the warm-up match Monday against Australia.
“Mandhana suffered an injury in the practice game. We can’t say she is out of World Cup yet. But she could miss the Pakistan game,” an ICC source stated here Friday.
The southpaw had batted at No. 3 against Australia instead of her usual opening position. Mandhana’s innings lasted only three balls. Mandhana had subsequently missed India’s second warm-up game Wednesday against Bangladesh.
Also read: Smriti Mandhana stays in top three, Deepti Sharma drops to third in ICC T20 rankings
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s fitness is also a concern. She had injured her shoulder during the final of the Tri-Series against South Africa last week. “The body is fine. It will get better with rest,” Kaur had said after the final. However, the big-hitting middle-order batter did not bat in either of India’s warm-up matches.
The ‘Women in Blue’ are clubbed alongside England, Pakistan, West Indies and Ireland in Group B. Except for Pakistan, the ‘Women in Blue’ start as favourites against all the other three teams in the group. They are expected to make the knockout stages quite comfortably. However, Mandhana’s injury has certainly put them in a spot of bother as she has been in fine form leading to the tournament.