Dhaka: India captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bowl first against Bangladesh in the first T20I at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, here Sunday. The venue is hosting international women’s matches after 11 years.
India have handed debuts to all-rounder Minnu Mani and left-arm spinner Anusha Bareddy in a playing eleven where the batting depth is till number 10 and seven bowling options are present, with Yastika Bhatia as wicketkeeper-batter.
“There has been rain over the last couple of days, and we don’t know how the pitch will play. Wicket looks good, but I don’t have a fair idea of how it will play. So, we had in mind that if we win the toss, we will bowl first and have a fair idea about the pitch.
We just want to bowl wicket-to-wicket and looking for a couple of breakthroughs in power-play. If we bowl well, we would like to restrict them as soon as possible because chasing will become difficult if rain comes,” said Harmanpreet at the toss.
On the other hand, Bangladesh have handed a debut cap to right-handed batter Shathi Rani.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said spectators are allowed free entry to the Southern Stand of the venue for the matches through Gate 4.
“We anyway wanted to bat first and put up a total on the scoreboard. When you have a score on the board, the chasing team is always under pressure. We are looking to post a total above 140,” said Bangladesh skipper Nigar Sultana.
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side last played on the international circuit when they lost to Australia by five runs in the semi-final of Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa in February.
Playing XIs:
India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Yastika Bhatia (wicketkeeper), Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Bareddy Anusha and Minnu Mani
Bangladesh: Nigar Sultana (captain & wicketkeeper), Salma Khatun, Shamima Sultana, Nahida Akter, Ritu Moni, Shorna Akter, Marufa Akter, Sobhana Mostary, Shathi Rani, Sultana Khatun and Rabeya Khan
IANS
