Women in Blue eye winning start in T20I series against England

Dec 05, 2023

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 5 : Harmanpreet Kaur-led India will lock horns against Heather Knight's England in the first match of the three-game T20I series at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Both sides will be eyeing to clinch a win in the opening match of the series to take an early lead against the English side.
Both the sides have squared off against each other 27 times, out of which England Women sealed a win in 20 matches. Meanwhile, India Women could only win seven times. Even though the away side will start as the stronger side, the host won't leave a place on their home ground.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, England skipper Knight confirmed that offspinner Charlie Dean will not take part in the upcoming match due to an injury.
"Charlie Dean is the latest to go down and can take a little bit of time to recover from that, She is the only one that is in potential doubt. We have had a strict quarantine and transition period to come across to the England team [from the A side]. We'll see how she is [as the series progresses]," Knight said.
When asked about Sophie Ecclestone's inclusion in the squad after she went through surgery due to dislocating her right shoulder, the 32-year-old said that bowling won't be an issue for Ecclestone.
"She is doing really well. She is back bowling. The bowling won't be an issue. Probably fielding, a bit nervousness ... I have had injuries before, and it is always [about] getting over and trusting your body again. In the heat of the battle, Sophie will be doing that and should be able to get over that. She has been tracking really well in training. She has been fielding, diving and things like that. We'll keep an eye on her as she is a key player for us," she added.
On the other hand, the India Women's head coach Amol Muzumdar said that their priority is fielding and fitness.
He confirmed that there will be a lot of training camps that will take place after this series.
"Fielding and fitness are of the highest priority. There is no compromise on fielding and fitness. There will be a lot of camps that will be happening after this series and getting into the next season. There will be a lot of cricket played either at the NCA or somewhere or the other," Muzumdar said during the pre-match press conference.
The head coach revealed that there were some fitness tests done at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) before the start of the series.
"Goals have already been set. We already had some [fitness] tests done when we were at the NCA in Bengaluru. [The parameters] are already in place and we follow it very rigorously and religiously moving forward. There will be three tests in the season, that are already being followed," he added.
The first match of the three-game T20I series will kick off at 7:30 PM IST.
England Women Squad: Danielle Wyatt, Maia Bouchier, Alice Capsey, Heather Knight (C), Amy Jones (Wk), Sophie Ecclestone, Freya Kemp, Danielle Gibson, Charlotte Dean, Sarah Glenn, Mahika Gaur, Sophia Dunkley, Bess Heath, Lauren Bell, Nat Sciver-Brunt.
India Women Squad: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (Wk), Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Titas Sadhu, Renuka Thakur Singh, Mannat Kashyap, Shreyanka Patil, Saika Ishaque, Kanika Ahuja, Yastika Bhatia, Minnu Mani.