The Indian Express ·
Sport
‘We are holding back Smriti Mandhana for long time’: Edulji on India captaincy
Edulji said that by the time the next World Cup rolls along, current captain Harmanpreet Kaur will be nearing 40 so Mandhana should be given a good run ahead of that for a smooth transition.
Former India women’s player Diana Edulji said that Smriti Mandhana should be made India captain at the earliest, keeping the next World Cup in mind. She said that by the time the next World Cup rolls along, current captain Harmanpreet Kaur will be nearing 40 so Mandhana should be given a good run ahead of that for a smooth transition.
“We are holding back Smriti Mandhana for a long time. By the time the next World Cup comes along, Harman will be nearing 40, so let’s give a good run to Smriti and look at two youngsters as vice-captains. My humble request to Harman would be to let people ask why and not why not,” Edulji said to Mid-Day.
In the recently concluded Asia Cup which India won after defeating Sri Lanka in the final, Mandhana and Kaur had contrasting tournament with the bat. Mandhana slammed 213 runs in 5 matches including a record breaking 124 while Harman could only manage 71 runs from the same number of matches.
Harman’s next major tournament as captain will be the Asian Games where India are the defending champions. The women’s competition will run from September 17 to 22 with India set to kick off their title defence on September 18, facing hosts Japan at 10:30 AM IST in a straight knockout quarterfinal.
After the Asian Games, India will then travel to South Africa to play 1 Test, 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is in a series starting on 9th December and ending on 30th December. After the series vs the Proteas, India will next be in action in the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy set to take place from February 14-28 in India.
All the matches of the six-team event will be played at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai and the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium in Vadodara. The tournament is set to be played in T20I format. The teams taking part in the tournament will be Australia, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa and Sri Lanka. The six teams will compete in a round-robin league, with the top two sides advancing to the final on February 28.