Smriti Mandhana begins captaincy tenure against Zimbabwe
Smriti Mandhana takes charge as India's full-time captain for the opening T20I against Zimbabwe in Raipur on Friday.
Smriti Mandhana leads India for the first time as full-time captain when the side faces Zimbabwe in the opening T20I of a six-match white-ball series in Raipur on Friday. The three-match T20I series begins at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium.
She said the team needs to set standards over the next three months ahead of the Women's Champions Trophy. Mandhana named Anushka Sharma, Niki Prasad and G Kamalini as options to fill the No. 3 spot left vacant by Jemimah Rodrigues' injury.
The three ODIs follow in Vadodara from October 23 to 28. Zimbabwe kept the squad that notched their first-ever ICC Women's Championship win against West Indies last month.
CricHubb Take
The series is a chance to test whether Mandhana's instinct is to keep the middle order flexible or to lock in a set order before the Champions Trophy; if the top three fire, the rest can stay fluid, but if early wickets fall, the experiment moves from low stakes to high pressure fast.