CHENNAI: When India women landed in Australia for the multi-format series earlier this year, they had 11 matches to prepare for the T20 World Cup in June. Harmanpreet Kaur and Co beat the hosts in the shortest format, made history and ticked a few boxes in the process before losing the ODIs and the only Test.
Cut to now, the number of matches have come down to eight — five of those begin Friday against South Africa in South Africa on Friday. From India's perspective, this series offers a chance for some of the younger players in the team to make an impression and move up the pecking order ahead of the T20 World Cup. And it shows in the squad the selectors have named, which includes Bharti Fulmali, Kashvee Gautam and uncapped Anushka Sharma.
It is not something new as well. In the last two years or so, Indian team has seen an influx of youngsters coming through and going out at some point or other. Over the last few months, Vaishnavi Sharma and G Kamalini made their debuts for India after the ODI World Cup triumph. Now, both are not a part of this series. While Vaishnavi has missed out due to combinations, Kamalini, who was injured earlier and is fit now, was replaced by Uma Chetry.
The bigger blow, meanwhile, is the injury to all-rounder Amanjot Kaur whose back issues seem to have resurfaced. "Aman being in the team covers a lot of other things (in terms of balance)," Harmanpreet explained on the eve of the first T20I. "As Aman is injured now, she is not available. If Vaishnavi is not there, that doesn't mean she is not part of our scheme. But the only thing is, whatever changes we have made, it's only about the team combination and the conditions over here. When you come to South Africa, you have to go with at least four medium-pace options because the pitches are different here. If you play in India, you can always cut down one pacer and go with an extra spinner. Now we have to cover our medium-pace side. That's why we have brought Kashvee in the team," she added.
Amanjot's injury comes as a concern for India as the all-rounder is a vital cog of the set up. While she continues to recover at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, focus is now on Gautam. The youngster showed signs of all-round brilliance Down Under, but has had injury struggles in the past. Which is why, the team management will have to be careful in managing her workload. This series also gives a chance to Arundhati Reddy to step up as the leading all-rounder in the side.
With the batting order already settled, the captain and coach will be looking to work on figuring out the best all-round bowling combinations. "Before T20 World Cup, we want to play really good cricket to get our confidence back again. Kashvee is someone who is very talented. She can contribute both batting and bowling and she is a great fielder also. Having these kind of players, it's very important. Bringing her to the T20 cricket, it's very important because now as Aman is not here and she is someone who can do really well for the team. So, I think this is very important series for all the young players who haven't played much international cricket. Giving them opportunity here will make a lot of difference," said the captain.