The Indian women’s team were last involved in the white-ball series against the visitors, West Indies led by skipper Hayley Matthews. The home side emerged victorious in both formats (2-1 in T20Is, and 3-0 in ODIs).
In their next assignment, the Women in Blue will host Ireland for the first time for a three-match bilateral ODI series from 10th to 15th January 2025. The home side announced their squad for the series earlier in the day today.
There were a few notable absentees from the squad, the regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was rested for the series and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana was named as the skipper for the upcoming series. Renuka Singh Thakur, who was the leading wicket-taker in the ODI series with 10 wickets in three innings against the West Indies was also rested for the upcoming series against Ireland. Uncertainty continues to cloud over the absence of the 27-year-old all-rounder Arundhati Reddy.
The regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur scored 88 runs at an impressive strike rate of 139.68 and a decent average of 29.33 in three innings with the bat for her side in the ODI series against the West Indies. Besides that, she is also currently the 2nd highest run-scorer and overall, the 6th highest run-scorer in the ongoing edition of the ICC Women’s Championship 2022-25 with 804 runs at a strike rate of 91.15 and an impressive average of 53.60 in 19 innings with the bat for her side.
Her tally of runs in the format in the ongoing edition of the championship includes four half-centuries and a couple of centuries so far. Her best performance with the bat for her side in the ongoing edition came on 21st September 2022 against England in the 2nd ODI when she scored a sensational unbeaten century (143* off 111 balls) at St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury. Her tally of runs in that knock included 18 boundaries and 4 maximums. She was also awarded the Player of the Match for her match-defining, breezy knock for her side. India eventually sealed the game and the series by 88 runs.
After the conclusion of the three-match bilateral ODI series against Ireland on 15th January 2025, there is a long 5-month break for the Women in Blue before they travel to England for a white ball series against England. The white-ball bilateral series will include a five-match T20I series followed by a three-match ODI series from 28th June 2025 to 22nd July 2025. However, the 2024-25 domestic games continues, with the 3rd edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) also around the corner.
The Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur will next be seen in action in the upcoming 3rd edition of the WPL, representing and leading the inaugural champions Mumbai Indians in the tournament in February-March 2025.
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