Harmanpreet Kaur takes over as T20I skipper for West Indies series

After having been signed up by the Sydney Thunder for the upcoming edition of the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), Harmanpreet Kaur has been rewarded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) with her first ever captaincy stint.

The appointment sees the 27-year old step out of her vice-captaincy role to take over as the captain of the T20I side that will face up against the World Champions the West Indies in November. However, in spite of this, Mithali Raj will hold onto the captaincy in the upcoming ODI series as well as the Asia Cup for Women’s Championships.

Harmanpreet Kaur is perhaps one of the best T20 batsmen in the world and will also be looking to gain some important experience when it comes to plying her trade in overseas conditions. The 27-year old has led the Indians previously in the 2012 edition of the Asia Championships where she led the Indians to an 81-run win over Pakistan in the final.

The West Indies will play a bevy of three ODIs and three T20Is on their tour of India. The duration of the tour will be 12 days starting from the 12th of November. All matches will be played at Vijaywada.  Five days later, Harampreet-led India Women will travel to Thailand to play Asia Cup, which will go on till December 5.

Also read – Controversial no ball decision that saved Chris Woakes

Squads for West Indies ODIs: Mithali Raj (Captain), Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Thirush Kamini, Mona Meshram, Veda Krishnamurthy, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Devika Vaidya, Sushma Verma (wicketkeeper), Sukanya Parida, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Deepti Sharma.

Squad for West Indies T20Is: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Mithali Raj, Smriti Mandhana, Vanitha VR, S Meghana, Anuja Patil, Veda Krishnamurthy, Jhulan Goswami, Nuzhat Parween (wicketkeeper), Shikha Pandey, Preeti Bose, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Mansi Joshi, Deepti Sharma.

Squad for Asia Cup Women’s Championship: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Mithali Raj, Smriti Mandhana, Vanitha VR, S Meghana, Anuja Patil, Veda Krishnamurthy, Jhulan Goswami, Nuzhat Parween, Sushma Verma (wicketkeeper), Shikha Pandey, Preeti Bose, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Mansi Joshi.

Also read – Not having Ashwin and Jadeja has weakened India’s bowling: Sunil Gavaskar