Smriti Mandhana to lead India in Zimbabwe T20I and ODI series

Smriti Mandhana will begin her full-time tenure as India women’s captain during the Zimbabwe series, leading the T20I and ODI squads. Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma have been named deputies, while Niki Prasad and Jintimani Kalita receive maiden T20I call-ups

New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday announced India’s squads for the upcoming T20I and ODI series against Zimbabwe, with Smriti Mandhana set to lead the women’s team as full-time captain for the first time.

Mandhana’s appointment as captain was announced by the BCCI earlier on Tuesday after Harmanpreet Kaur stepped down from the leadership role across formats. Mandhana, who has previously led India in 18 T20Is and four ODIs, will now begin her full-time tenure with the Zimbabwe series.

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Opener Shafali Verma has been named vice-captain for the three-match T20I series, while all-rounder Deepti Sharma will serve as Mandhana’s deputy in the ODI format. Harmanpreet remains part of both squads.

The T20I squad includes maiden call-ups for Niki Prasad and Jintimani Kalita, while Anushka Sharma, Minnu Mani and Prema Rawat have returned to the setup after missing out in the recent assignments.

Niki has been part of India’s A setup and impressed in domestic cricket, while Jintimani has also featured for India A. Both were part of the India A group that faced England A earlier this year. Prema, a leg-spinner, has also represented India at the international level and was brought into the T20 World Cup squad earlier this year after Shreyanka Patil was ruled out with injury.

However, she didn’t get many chances after the tournament. Prema had previously impressed for India A, including an eight-wicket haul in five matches during India’s victorious Women’s Asia Cup Rising Stars campaign.

The series will be India’s first assignment after their women’s cricket team retained the Asian Games gold medal in Aichi-Nagoya. India had entered the Games as defending champions, having won the women’s cricket gold at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Compared to the T20I squad that was part of India’s gold-medal-winning campaign, there are five changes. Niki, Anushka, Jintimani, Prema and Minnu have come into the squad, replacing Bharti Fulmali, Pratika Rawal, Renuka Thakur, Radha Yadav and Shreyanka Patil.

For the ODI series, Tejal Hasabnis and Sayali Satghare have been recalled. The duo was part of India. A side that toured England earlier this year, with Hasabnis scoring an unbeaten 57 in a one-day match against England A.

Mandhana’s appointment also marks the beginning of a new leadership phase for Indian women’s cricket. The left-handed opener has been part of the national team since 2013 and has led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to Women’s Premier League titles in 2024 and 2026.

India will play the three T20Is in Raipur on October 16, 18 and 20, followed by three ODIs in Vadodara on October 23, 25 and 28.

Squads:

India’s T20I Squad: Smriti Mandhana [C], Shafali Verma [VC], Niki Prasad, Harmanpreet Kaur, Anushka Sharma, Richa Ghosh [WK], G Kamalini [WK], Deepti Sharma, Prema Rawat, Sree Charani, Nandni Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Jintimani Kalita, Minnu Mani

India’s ODI Squad: Smriti Mandhana [C], Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Harmanpreet Kaur, Harleen Deol, Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma [VC], Richa Ghosh [WK], Yastika Bhatia [WK], Vaishnavi Sharma, Nandni Sharma, Sree Charani, Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare, Renuka Thakur.