PLAYER TO WATCH OUT FOR
KNOW THE CAPTAIN
Known for her famous unbeaten 115-ball knock of 171 runs against Australia in 2017 World Cup semifinal, Harmanpreet is the most important cog in the Indian team due to her swashbuckling batting and useful spin bowling. Someone who wears one’s heart on her sleeve, she is also a dynamic fielder. Her exploits in the Women’s Big Bash league while playing for Sydney Thunder and in Kia League for Surrey Stars proves her T20 credentials. The 2018 ICC World Twenty20 will also test her captaincy skills as it is for the first time she would be leading India in such a big event.
Age: 29, Matches: 88, Runs: 1703, Average: 27.91, Wickets: 24, Average: 22.29 Smriti Mandhana became the 10th woman cricketer to be conferred with Arjuna Award for her stellar performances in 2017. She has carried her smashing ODI form into T20 Internationals as well, and has 439 runs in 18 matches to her name. When it comes to her overall tally across ODIs and T20Is, she has 1139 runs to her name in 28 innings’, at an average of 45.56. It is the most by an Indian women’s player since the 2017 World Cup. Smriti had good performances in the Kia Super League in England, where her table-topping 421 runs at a strike-rate of 174.68 took Western Storm to the Finals Day. She became the first Indian – male or female – to win the player of the tournament award in an overseas T20 league.
Age: 22, Matches: 47, Runs: 868, Average: 21.17
India’s T20 record: Matches played: 93, Won: 49,
Losses: 42, No result: 2, Ranking: 5