Team Led By Harmanpreet Kaur Gears Up For South Africa Series

India South Africa women's series: Captain of India’s T20 women’s cricket team, Harmanpreet Kaur, is leading women in blue to a limited-overs series against South Africa, slated to start at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday.

After a long pause, the Indian women are returning to competitive cricket. Last, they played on 8th March 2020 during the heartbreaking final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020. The Australian XI beat India by eight wickets. Now, after a gap of almost 12 months, the hosts India will face South Africa in five ODIs and three T20Is.

“I am very excited because we will be playing international cricket after a long time and also it’s my 100th ODI. Both the things will give me a lot of energy and I am sure I can do well,” Harmanpreet said in media interaction on Friday.

The T20 captain will now play her first international assignment after a year-long break. Harmanpreet Kaur is confident the team will succeed despite the prolonged time away from the game.

The all-rounder Kaur played a key role in India’s march to the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2017 final, where she scored an unbeaten 171 against Australia in the semi-final. She had also captained brilliantly throughout the ICC Women’s World T20 and become the second Indian cricketer to play in the Kia Super League in 2019. Smriti Mandhana was the first to play in KIA, when she joined defending champions Western Storm earlier in June 2018.

Kaur has come a long way since then. Talking about personal growth, the 31-year-old told Sportstar, “As a person, I have learnt a lot in these years. I have seen ups and downs - there have been times when I have played good cricket in the right frame of mind, sometimes the form has been a bit here and there. I want to share my experiences with the team-mates, so that even when they face a dip in form, they can bounce back too.”

She also mentioned that there is no "rustiness" in their side even though "it has been a long break for us, but sometimes things are not in your control. I hope we will have a good tournament."

Here's the schedule of the 5-match WODI series

7th March: First WODI – Ekana Cricket Stadium (Lucknow)

9th March: Second WODI

12th March: Third WODI

14th March: Fourth WODI

17th March: Fifth WODI

Here's the schedule of the 3-match T20I series

20th March: First WT20I – Ekana Cricket Stadium (Lucknow)

21st March: Second WT20I

24th March: Third WT20I

Feature Image Credit: Twitter/BCCIWomen