The Indian women's cricket team commenced their campaign against Malaysia by batting first without their skipper Harmanpreet Kaur.
Having lost the toss, India's stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana was asked to bat first.
Harmanpreet was slapped with a two-match suspension by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for violating the Code of Conduct on two accounts. She will not play until India reaches the final in Hangzhou Games.
Harmanpreet was fined 75 per cent of her match fee in addition to the two-match suspension. She showed dissent over the Bangladesh umpire’s decision followed by criticising him in the post-match presentation.
India's playing XI:
Smriti Mandhana (capt), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Kanika Ahuja, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Amanjot Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, Minnu Manni, Rajeshwari Gayakwad
Malaysia's Playing XI:
Ainna Hamizah Hashim, Winifred Duraisingam(c), Mas Elysa, Wan Julia(w), Mahirah Izzati Ismail, Aina Najwa, Wan Nor Zulaika, Nur Arianna Natsya, Aisya Eleesa, Nur Dania Syuhada, Nik Nur Atiela
In a previous interview with ESPNCricinfo, Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma spoke about India's rise to the top of their game in the last decade. "Earlier, we never used to even qualify [for big-tournament finals]. Now we qualify, play the semi-finals, finals... it's not easy. The more matches we play, the more experience we gain. We are falling short by a small margin. I am hopeful that we will cross the line very soon," she said.
She also spoke about how much the Indian women's team have benefitted from the Women's Premier League. "We were waiting for so long for this [WPL], and it finally started. It has been great, experience-wise," Deepti said. "We have played against some of the [overseas] players for so long, and now we are playing in the same team. It feels nice - different, because everyone backs each other. That is one good thing. You just need that support from the team. I feel this will go to a completely different level and it's going to be a lot of fun going forward."
MORE ON SPORTS TAK
Asian Games 2023: With return of Chess and Cricket India set to make splash in 19th edition of Asiad
