India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana came for the pre-match press conference on October 8. India face Sri Lanka in the must-win clash to keep their hopes of reaching the Women's T20 World Cup 2024 semifinals alive. Harmanpreet Kaur who had to leave the field retired hurt towards the end of the run chase agianst Pakistan due to discomfort in her neck will take the field against Sri Lanka despite skipping the practice on the eve of the game.
"She (Harman) is doing fine and she will be fine for tomorrow," Mandhana confirmed on October 8.
No update on injured Vastrakar
Another player who has been injured is fast-bowling all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar. While Harmanpreet is set to play against Sri Lanka, there is still no update on Vastrakar.
"Pooja, I think the medical team is still working on her. So, the update will come only tomorrow during the match. But yeah, I don't think I can say anything at the moment," said the opener.
Vastrakar missed the match against Pakistan and was replaced by Sajeevan Sajana. Harmanpreet batted at no.4 against Pakistan as she promoted Jemimah Rodrigues up the order. The captain scored 29 runs from 24 balls before leaving the field. She took India to the doorstep of victory.
Mandhana’s struggle for form
Mandhana has struggled for form on the slow pitches of Dubai. She faced too many dot deliveries against Pakistan in the run chase and eventually handed an easy catch inside the circle. The opener admitted that it was frustrating for her to not score boundaries or rotate the strike.
“Of course, you know in the last match I couldn't… like I started off fine but then later on I consumed a few dot balls which was a little irritating for me,” she said.
Conditions not suited for high-scoring games
She also talked about the match against New Zealand where the game slipped out of India's grasp. She said that there haven’t been high-scoring games apart from the match against New Zealand.
“The conditions, I don't see any except the New Zealand match, we haven't seen any team go over 140 in the whole tournament, 135-140, be it a day game or a night game, says a lot about the conditions,” the 28-year-old said.
