Harmanpreet fails to recover, Mandhana to lead India in England T20Is

Harmanpreet, who also missed the ongoing three-match ODI series, is yet to recover fully from her ankle injury. In her absence, opener Smriti Mandhana has been named as the captain of the 15-member Indian women's squad

Smriti Mandhana will lead India for the first time after regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur was ruled out of the three-match T20I series against England beginning from March 4, announced BCCI. Kaur failed to recover from the ankle injury which had sidelined her from the ongoing three-match ODI series, which was already clinched by India after they won the second ODI by 7 wickets on Monday. Mandhana top-scored for India with another free-flowing innings of 63.

The squad was picked on Monday after a meeting of the All-India Women's Selection Committee.

"Harmanpreet Kaur has not yet fully recovered from her ankle injury and will continue her rehab at the NCA," BCCI said in a statement.

Middle-order batswoman Veda Krishnamurthy has made a comeback to the side after being dropped for the recent tour of New Zealand alongside Priya Punia.

Attacking batswoman Bharati Fulmali and left-arm pacer Komal Zanzad are the two new faces in the team.

Harleen Deol, who replaced Harmanpreet in the ODI squad for the ongoing series against England, has been axed because of her poor show.

The first match of the T20 series will be played on March 4, followed by games on March 7 and March 9 respectively in Guwahati.

India Women's T20I squad: Smriti Mandhana (Captain), Mithali Raj, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Bharti Fulmali, Anuja Patil, Shikha Pandey, Komal Zanzad, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Veda Krishnamurty, Harleen Deol.