Australia Women vs India Women: Harmanpreet Kaur Won't Be Available For Second ODI

India women’s team star batter Harmanpreet Kaur won’t be available for the second One-Day International match against Australia.

Harmanpreet, who is also India’s vice-captain in the longer formats, was ruled out of the first ODI due to a thumb injury.

Harmanpreet Kaur is not available for the next game: Shiv Sunder Das

India women’s team batting coach Shiv Sunder Das confirmed that the middle-order batter won’t play in the second ODI against Australia.

“I think right now she (Harmanpreet Kaur) is not fit and I think she is not available for the next game,” Das said in a virtual pre-match press conference.

We are working on our batting aspect: Shiv Sunder Das

Young opener Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana did not have a good start to their Australia tour as they were dismissed for low scores. Indian skipper Mithali Raj once again topped the batting charts with 63.

Debutants Yastika Bhatia (35) and wicket-keeper Richa Ghosh (32) played some handful of cameos to take the team’s total to 225.

Das feels the team needs to get a good start from the top-order and pointed out that running between the wickets is a concern in the middle overs.

“I think we are looking at the top-order, and we are looking to have a good start. In terms of middle-order, we have really worked hard in terms of plans, we will look to execute it in tomorrow’s game. We are working on our batting aspect, we are looking at a good start, to begin with, and in terms of middle overs, we are looking to go at 5 runs per over and then six runs per over to achieve the target of 250,” Das said. 

“We have identified a few areas, I had one to one chat with all the batters and tomorrow we will see the difference. I had one to one chat with Smriti Mandhana, we have worked in the nets. She is a world-class player and we are backing her ability.

“In the middle overs, the running between the wickets is an area we are working on. It is a work in progress, we have few young batters in our side and we need to give them some time, they will definitely fire,” he added.

India lost to Australia by nine wickets and will aim to bounce back in the second match at the Harrup Park in Mackay on September 24.

Also Read: Mithali Raj Retains Top Spot In The Latest ICC Women’s ODI Rankings