India Women have suffered a huge setback as their vice-captain and one of the star batters Harmanpreet Kaur has been ruled of the first ODI of the series against Australia Women scheduled to start on September 21.
India Women’s coach Ramesh Powar confirmed the news and said that Harmanpreet has hurt her thumb and hence will be unavailable for selection in the pre-series press conference. He refused to give details and the extent of her injury and said that the team management will take a call on her availability in due course of time.
"Harmanpreet Kaur got hit on the thumb and is not available for the first ODI. We'll take a call on her availability on the second match later,” Powar said.
India Women have travelled to Australia in the leadership of Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet along with the skipper and batters such as Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Varma form the core strength of the side.
Harmanpreet is an experienced campaigner with 107 ODI appearances to her name and her best of 171 came against Australia in the ICC WODI World Cup in 2017 in England. She has had three hundred and 12 fifties in the format so far and India Women will certainly miss her flamboyant appearance against Australia Women in the first ODI of the series.