Indian girls take on England in first T20I series today at Guwahati
Won’t need extra readiness for captaincy: Smriti
Match starts at 11 am
Our Sports Reporter
GUWAHATI: Indian girls will take on England in the first game of the three-match T20I series at ACA stadium, Barsapara here on Monday. The match will kick off at 11 am in the morning.
Earlier, England and India played a couple of ODI in Guwahati but it was the first occasion when both the sides will face each other in T20I format in Guwahati. The city will host all three matches of the series and the next two games are scheduled for March 7 and March 9 respectively.
On paper England are much stronger side then India in T20I format but after beating the visitors 2-1 in ODI series recently the home side is now look confident and more determined to play good cricket in the series.
India will miss the service of captain Harmanpreet Kaur because of injury and Smriti Mandhana is all set to make debut as captain for India in the series. Talking to the media persons in pre match conference here on Sunday Smriti said that the role of captaincy would not need her to make many changes in her preparation.
Replying a query Mandhana said: “I think the preparation won’t change much. I have been vice-captain for two years and I have been attending all team meetings. So I am fully aware of my job. I am the captain of the team and will welcome any suggestions from the team members.”
India will put a young team in the series and many feel it may create a little problem in team’s performance. But Mandhana thinks in different way. “It is really an exciting time as we have a young squad. I think the players need to take more responsibility to post good scores on the board.”
She also made it clear that India is not interest to make a few experiment with the young players at the start of the series. “Our primary aim is to win the series and not just trying out new faces. It is important for us to believe that we are going into the series to win it rather than experimenting,” the skipper added.
Meanwhile Mandhana, who is in good form, became the number one ODI batter in the ICC Women’s Rankings last month. However the captain feels it is a very small goal for her. She sets much bigger goal and it is winning a World Cup title with the national team.
Captain today also hinted that they have already started their preparations for the T20 World Cup and a fair bit of idea about the composition of the side will come in next 6-8 months. The next T20 World Cup will be held in Australia exactly one year later.
When asked about BCCI’s decision to host the series in Guwahati they captain reacted: It’s a brilliant initiative. The time we have landed in Guwahati the reception has been really amazing. The other facilities, including ground, provided to us is very good. I feel this type of decision will help to grow women’s cricket in a big way.”
Meanwhile England captain Heather Knight is not too much worried about the 1-2 loss in recent 50 Overs ODI Series. She feels the side will look to take the confidence it gained from winning the last match of the ODI series. In an interaction with the media on the eve of first game of T20I series she said, “Earlier in the first two games in ODI series we did not get going, it started slowly and to get that win in the final ODI was nice for the team and hopefully it will help us in changing the momentum for the team”.
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