CHENNAI: While Rishabh Pant walking out to open the batting with Rohit Sharma for the Indian men against West Indies in the second ODI took everyone by surprise, it wasn't even the first shock the fans were in for the day as a few hours earlier, India women had fielded a team without Smriti Mandhana in the only T20I against New Zealand at Queenstown.
Sabbineni Meghana, the backup opener took the southpaw's place in the eleven but did not open. It was Yastika Bhatia, who was expected to bat at three, took guard with Shafali Verma in the chase, which the tourists eventually fell short.
Although it was later learnt that the changes were forced with Mandhana, Meghna Singh and Renuka Singh Thakur under 'managed solation and quarantine (MIQ)' as per New Zealand government rules, for a few hours, the way India women went about things left many confused. While there is still no official word from the board, it's been reported that Mandhana and the two other players could be in extended quarantine because of some travel issues as they moved to Queenstown from Christchurch.
The lone T20I was never about the results as this was a chance to get acclimatised to the conditions and gain some necessary game time before the ODIs began. However, with their three key players in MIQ, one has to wonder whether the team management got what they wanted from the fixture.
Coming to the match, Pooja Vastrakar was the standout performer with the ball, taking two crucial wickets for 16 runs in her four overs. The fast-bowling all-rounder, however, had little support as Simran Dil Bahadur, the back-up pacer for the World Cup, was the only other seamer in the eleven.
The absence of Meghna and Renuka meant that Harmanpreet Kaur had to use Vastrakar's four overs carefully.
In the spin department, Deepti Sharma did well while Sneh Rana is making it hard to leave her out with her all-round presence in the field. The bigger worry for them would be the form of leg-spinner Poonam Yadav, whose poor run continued, conceding 34 runs for no wickets on Wednesday.
India had to chase 156, and the only positive with the bat was Meghana as she hit an aggressive 30-ball 37 at No. 4. With just two days to go for the first ODI, the team management will have more questions than answers, keeping in mind the availability of their star players.
Brief scores: New Zealand 155/5 in 20 ovs (Bates 36; Vastrakar 2/16) beat India 137/8 in 20 ovs (Meghana 37; Jess 2/20)