Women's T20 WC: Smriti Mandhana set to return for Windies match after recovering from finger injury

In what comes a massive boost for the Indian women’s cricket team, star opener Smriti Mandhana is all set to return for the game against Windies, scheduled for Wednesday, February 15th at the Newlands in Cape Town. As per the team bowling coach Troy Cooley, Mandhana trained in nets on Tuesday and looked in good touch. Having made headlines recently for becoming the most-expensive player in WPL auction, the left-handed Mandhana didn’t play the first match against Pakistan, which India won by seven wickets, due to a finger injury. She is now believed to have recovered significantly to be considered for selection.

"She has been working very hard and she will be assessed after training," said Cooley. "She did everything that needed to be done and we are pretty confident she got through the session OK,” team India’s bowling coach said as quoted by Times of India ahead of the side’s second match against the Windies.

Against Pakistan in their T20 World Cup opener, India’s bowling struggled a bit during the second half. While Deepti Sharma picked one wicket in her first spell, she went for runs (39) in her quota of four overs. Speaking about her form, Cooley said Deepti is an experience player, and that she is good at reviewing her own performance.

"She bowled three overs in the powerplay and one at the death with three fielders out," Cooley said. "We know those are high pressure situations but who better to give the ball to than someone like Deepti? She is an exceptional player,” he said.

"The girls are very good at reviewing their own performances and they are very open to input. Deepti is one of our key players and she will go for a few runs some days. That's the nature of T20. But she bowled in the high-pressure situations and we believe she did a good job," Cooley added.

Windies, who lost their opening encounter against England in group B will have a tough challenge in India at Newlands, whereas, India will aim to continue with their winning run and gain momentum going forward.

Meanwhile, for the fans watching in India, they can enjoy the live coverage of India vs Windies women’s T20 World Cup match on Star network on TV and on Disney+Hotstar on mobile app.