India women to use Sri Lanka series as dress rehearsal for Commonwealth Games

The Indian team are packed with a number of toporder batters and the new allformat captain Harmanpreet Kaur says everyone will get a chance to show their worth in the T20 series against Sri Lanka starting ThursdayElegant lefthander Smriti Mandhana explosive Shafali Verma Sabbhineni Meghana and Yastika Bhatia are all toporder batters in Indiarsquos 15player squad In the absence of Smriti it was Shafali and Yastika who opened the batting against New Zealand in FebruaryldquoWe have many toporder batters including three to four of them who can play as openers But when it comes to this team everyone will have opportunity to showcase their skillsrdquo Harmanpreet said on the eve of the seriesopenerlsquoMake opportunities countrsquoldquoWe all are representing our country and whatever opportunity might come at some point we must make the best use of it We have many batters who can play at any position We will try to give everyone the space to bat where they feel comfortablerdquo she addedJemimah RodriguesWith the T20s all set to feature in the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and also at the ICC Womenrsquos T20 World Cup eight months away India will look to begin their campaign on a highThis will be the first international assignment for the Indian women since the disappointment at the 2022 Womenrsquos World Cup Notably the Indian team for the first time will be without the legendary Mithali Raj who hung up her boots earlier this month after an illustrious 23yearold careerAlso Read Ranji Trophy final We are in a really good position says Mumbai opener Yashasvi JaiswalCrucial for JemimahHarmanpreet also backed talented allrounder Jemimah Rodrigues who was not included in the last ODI World Cup squad but has now made a return to the side for the series against Sri Lanka ldquoJemimah is truly an experienced player She will definitely play a crucial role in the T20 seriesrdquo Harmanpreet saidldquoIf you look at Jemimahrsquos case she always grabs whatever opportunities come her way Similarly itrsquos very important to keep talking to other players and find out the right combination for bigticket events like the Commonwealth Gamesrdquo she remarkedOn the personal front skipper Harmanpreet will be eyeing a milestone The 33yearold batter who has amassed 2319 runs from 121 matches needs another 46 runs to eclipse Mithali in the shortest formatThe spotlight will also be on vicecaptain Smriti Mandhana Harmanpreet and coach Ramesh Powar who recorded a sevenmatch winning streak in the last T20 World Cup before India were knocked out in the semifinals by South Africa Hosts Sri Lanka on the other hand will start the series on the back foot as they were recently whitewashed 03 by Pakistan in a T20 seriesHowever the Indians will have to remain vigilant against the likes of Sri Lankan veterans Oshadi Ranasinghe and Chamari Athapaththu The threegame T20 series will be followed by as many ODIs scheduled to be played at Pallekele on July 1 4 and 7 There is no clarity if the series would be broadcast live However as things stand the first match will be shown live on Sri Lanka Cricketrsquos official YouTube channelThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever