Smriti Mandhana to captain India in ODI series against Ireland

Article Update On:

January 6 2025

Published On:

January 6 2025

Team India will be without its regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur and key pacer Renuka Singh for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Ireland. In Harmanpreet’s absence, Smriti Mandhana will take over as captain and look to get India off to a good start in Rajkot on January 10. Meanwhile, Deepti Sharma has been named vice-captain of the series.

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New faces in the team

The Indian selectors have injected new energy into the team by calling up Raghvi Bist and Sayali Satghare. Bist, who made her T20I debut against the West Indies last month, has already shown promise in her initial performances. Meanwhile, Satghare was part of the ODI squad during the New Zealand series in October 2024 but is yet to make her debut and will be keen to take advantage of this opportunity.

Pratika Rawal and Tanuja Kanwar, who played their first international matches during the West Indies ODIs, retained their places in the team.

Shafali Verma’s absence from the squad continues to generate a lot of debate. Despite being the leading run-scorer in the Senior Women’s One-Day Trophy (accumulating 527 runs at an impressive average of 75.29), she remains on the sidelines. His form was further highlighted with 91 off 71 balls in the One Day Challenger Trophy, but the selectors have decided to go in a different direction for now.

Historical tour of Ireland

This series marks a historic moment for Ireland as it is their first bilateral tour of India. The two teams last faced each other during the 2023 T20 World Cup, where India narrowly eked out a five-run victory. However, Ireland will try to make history on this maiden voyage.

India boasts an impeccable ODI record against Ireland, having won all 12 matches between the two teams to date. The visitors will be eager to change that narrative but will have their work cut out for them as India remain a formidable force at home even without some of their top stars.

India Women’s Team for ODIs against Ireland: Smriti Mandhana (captain), Deepti Sharma (vice-captain), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Uma Chetry (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk), Tejal Hasabnis, Raghvi Bist, Minnu Mani, Priya Mishra, Tanuja Kanwer, Titas Sadhu , Saima Thakor, Sayali Satghare