After the dismal of ICC World T20 last year, New Zealand will lock horn with India in the three ODIs and the same number of T20Is in New Zealand from January 24. The three-ODIs will be a part of the ICC Women’s Championship (2017-20).
Here are the top 5 players, who could play an important role in the scintillating contest.
Smriti Mandhana:
Smriti Mandhana is one of the key players for India. The left-handed opener has been in a formidable form for the last one and half years. Her consistency with the bat will give her side to a great start. After the brilliant performances in ODI in South Africa and then against Australia and England at home soil last year, Mandhana showed what she is able to do.
Her maiden Super League went wonderfully where she scored 421 runs in 9 innings with the strike rate of 174.69; including a maiden T20 century for Western Storm and finished the league as the third highest run-getter in the ICC World T20 last year. She played her second season in the Women’s Big Bash League for Hobart Hurricanes where she scored 318 runs in 13 matches.
Her consistent performances can pose a great threat to the White Ferns. She’s being named in both ICC’s ODI and T20 Teams of the Year. Along with this, she also named as ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year and also won the Rachel Heyhoe-Flint Award for ICC Player of the Year.
Suzie Bates:
Suzie Bates is one of the explosive batters in her generation. She will play a pivotal role in the batting line-up for White Ferns while opening the batting. Last year, Bates had stepped down from the captaincy but the year went great for her. She has 4285 runs with 10 centuries and 24 half-centuries in 115 ODIs and 3007 runs with a ton and 20 half-centuries in 108 T20Is so far which made her one of the best players in the world cricket. Currently ranked seventh in the ICC Women’s Player Rankings in ODI and first in T20, named the captain of the ICC ODI team.
She has scored more runs than any other player in the T20 format last year. She smashed 670 runs in 17 matches at an average of 50. Her unbeaten 124 from 66 balls against South Africa in June was one of the best innings of the year. She captained Adelaide Strikers in the Women’s Big Bash League recently and scored 421 runs in 14 games; which helped her to become the fourth highest run-getter of the tournament.
She has the ability to smash the ball to anywhere of the ground as well as anchor the innings till the end. She can damage any bowling line-up with ease.
Harmanpreet Kaur:
India T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur has been named the captain of the ICC T20I Team for her stupendous form. She led from the front and took India to the semi-final of the ICC World T20 2018 in the Caribbean last year. She scored 183 runs at a strike-rate of 160.5.
Her blistering innings of ICC World T20 started with a 51-ball 103 against New Zealand in the opening match and became the first Indian to score a century in T20I. She amassed 663 runs at a strike-rate of 126.2 in 25 matches in this year.
She is currently in the third position in the ICC Women’s Player Rankings for T20I Batters. Along with this, she has been in a good form in the limited over the game as well and her big hitting ability is known to all. She has the ability to turn the table on her own; which will pose a great hurdle for the opponents. She played another season for Sydney Thunder in the WBBL which ended with 310 runs in 10 matches.
Sophie Devine:
Another player who could make a huge difference is none other than Sophie Devine. She has been selected in the ICC ODI Team for scoring 533 runs in seven matches at an average of 106 including three hundred and two fifties.
She is the only second batter after Ellyse Perry who could manage to reach 500 marks in the ongoing WBBL. She scored 556 runs in 13 matches with the strike rate of 136.61; including 55 fours and 19 sixes for Adelaide Strikers in the WBBL 2018-19. Moreover, she is the only bowler to take a fifer in the tournament as well. She will play a crucial role in her all-around performances for her team. Her formidable form will play a pivotal role for her team to score big as well as to chase them.
Poonam Yadav:
Leg-break bowler Poonam Yadav will play the salient role among bowlers for India. She has been in a stupendous form. She took 8 wickets in 5 matches in the ICC Women’s WorldCup last year.
Currently, she is in her career-best ranking’s (No. 2) in the shortest format of the game, Yadav is a big obstacle for other teams’ win over India. She is one of the most dependable bowlers of India at present undoubtedly. She has the ability to take wickets at the key moment. Her bowling can trouble any batter in the world. She has her best bowling figure in the limited-over against Sri Lanka (4/13) and against Bangladesh in the shortest format of the game (4/9).
