Mandhana to lead India women in T20Is against England, Harmanpreet yet to recover

ICC cricketer of the year Smriti Mandhana named captain of India Women

Mumbai, February 25: Prolific opener Smriti Mandhana was Monday (February 25) named as the captain of India women's Twenty20 squad for the three-match series against England after regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was ruled out due to an ankle injury.

According to a statement from the BCCI, Harmanpreet is yet to recover fully from the injury and will continue with her rehabilitation process.

The ankle injury had earlier ruled Harmanpreet out of the ongoing three-match ODI series against world champions England.

Mandhana is the current ICC cricketer of the year and has been in stupendous form. So, she was handed the captaincy.

The 15-member squad also includes ODI skipper Mithali Raj. The squad was picked on Monday (February 25) after a meeting of the All-India Women's Selection Committee.

"Harmanpreet Kaur has not yet fully recovered from her ankle injury and will continue her rehab at the NCA," BCCI said in a statement.

Middle-order batswoman Veda Krishnamurthy has made a comeback to the side after being dropped for the recent tour of New Zealand along side Priya Punia. Attacking batswoman Bharati Fulmali and left-arm pacer Komal Zanzad are the two new faces in the team.

Harleen Deol, who replaced Harmanpreet in the ODI squad for the ongoing series against England, has been axed because of her poor show.

The first match of the T20 series will be played on March 4, followed by games on March 7 and March 9 respectively in Guwahati.

India Women's T20I squad: Smriti Mandhana (Captain), Mithali Raj, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Bharti Fulmali, Anuja Patil, Shikha Pandey, Komal Zanzad, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Veda Krishnamurty, Harleen Deol