In a blow to the India women’s team, their T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur has been ruled out of the opening ODI against Australia at Mackay on Tuesday after being struck on the thumb “a few days ago in practice” and is not available for the first ODI, head coach Ramesh Powar informed the media on match eve.
Meanwhile, in an interesting development, Powar has made it clear that young batter Jemimah Rodrigues, who was in poor form during India’s tour of England recently but batted extremely well in ‘The Hundred’ competition, “may or may not” be a part of India’s tam for the ODI World Cup in New Zealand next year.
“Jemi will be and is part of plans going forward, it’s about finding the right composition for the World Cup. She may make it, she may not,” the former India off-spinner said.
The coach was also pleased with teenaged batter Shafali Verma’s stupendous success on the England tour, which saw her score half-centuries in both innings on her Test debut, at Bristol. “The way Shafali played in England, we are happy with her. She knows her role. She is 17-year-old. We don’t want to push her. We want her to play with freedom but with some responsibilities. SS Das (India women’s team batting coach) has spent a lot of time with her. Let her express her cricket,” Powar said.