Smriti Mandhana begins full-time captaincy with Zimbabwe T20I

India handed young all-rounder Niki Prasad her T20I debut as Smriti Mandhana’s side elected to bowl against Zimbabwe in Raipur. The match marks Zimbabwe’s first bilateral women’s cricket series against India and Raipur’s first women’s international match

Raipur: Young batting all-rounder Niki Prasad made her T20I debut as India, led by Smriti Mandhana for the first time as full-time captain, won the toss and elected to bowl against Zimbabwe in the opening match of the three-match series at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur on Friday.

The match also marks the start of Zimbabwe’s first-ever bilateral women’s cricket series against India. Raipur is hosting a women’s international cricket match for the first time.

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After winning the toss, Mandhana said India had picked three seamers — Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy and Nandni Sharma — and two spinners, N Sree Charani and Deepti Sharma, with Shafali Verma providing the sixth bowling option.

Niki, who captained India to the 2025 Women’s Under-19 T20 World Cup title and impressed during the recent series against Australia A, will bat at No. 5. Anushka Sharma, who returns to the side, has been slotted in at No. 3.

“We would like to field first today due to the dew factor. There’s one eye on the Champions Trophy. That’s the vision we have: there are going to be a lot of matches at night and in the dew. (Have led) a few times for India as well, and in terms of WPL.

“So, I wouldn’t say that I’m thinking about it too much in my head. I just want to play the exact same (cricket). In terms of the Indian team, I feel it’s a pretty young team. Of course, Zimbabwe is a great team, and we have a lot of youngsters and a lot of things that we have worked on. So hopefully we can do all of those things in the next three months leading up to the Championship.

“We have definitely thought about it (how challenging it is to pick players) in terms of selecting our eleven. Unfortunately, Prema (Rawat), Jintimani (Kalita), Minnu Mani and Kammu (G Kamalini) miss out. Of course, they are all good players, but in terms of our team combination today, they miss out unfortunately,” she said.

Zimbabwe captain Josephine Nkomo said her side had prepared well, particularly after its recent home series against the West Indies.

“We’ve done a lot of solid preparation despite all odds. We’re coming off a good series against the West Indies, and we’re hoping to carry that momentum and confidence right into this series.

“We’ve got a really good mix in our lineup, featuring some great combinations and talented youngsters. It’s a fairly young squad, and we’re hoping to learn a lot and get a great deal out of this series,” she said.

Zimbabwe are also wearing black armbands in memory of former Zimbabwe player and umpire Sarah Dambanevana, who died aged 36 in Harare on October 12.

Playing XIs

India: Shafali Verma (vice-captain), Smriti Mandhana (captain), Anushka Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Niki Prasad, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), Deepti Sharma, N Sree Charani, Arundhati Reddy, Nandni Sharma and Kranti Gaud.

Zimbabwe: Nyasha Gwanzura, Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, Kelis Ndhlovu, Beloved Biza, Josephine Nkomo (captain), Modester Mupachikwa (wicketkeeper), Michelle Mavunga, Francisca Chipare, Olinder Chare, Tendai Makusha and Sharne Mayers.