The International Cricket Council (ICC) on September 20 (Tuesday) released the latest T20I and ODI rankings for women and Indian star cricketers were duly awarded for their consistent performance. The bigger gainer was stylish left-handed opening batter Smriti Mandhana, who attained her career-best T20I ranking and is now stationed in the second spot.
The Indian opener is in tremendous form, both in T20Is and ODIs. Mandhana scored 111 runs in three T20Is against England while she also played a match-winning knock of 91 in the first ODI against the Three Lions. Courtesy of that knock, she moved up three places in ODIs and now is ranked seventh.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur jumped four spots and is now ninth in ODI rankings while all-rounder Deepti Sharma moved up one spot and is now ranked 32. She is ranked 12 in the bowlers' rankings. Wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia jumped up eight places to the 37th spot in the ODI rankings.
The Indian women's team will back itself to seal its first series victory in England since 1999 with another win over the hosts in the second women's ODI here on Wednesday.
Having endured a woeful 1-2 defeat in the T20I series, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian side raised its standards in all the departments of the game to bounce back in three days' time and defeat England by seven wickets in the series-opener at Hove on Sunday.
England are missing some of their senior players but India looked a much better team in the first game and they would be looking to ride the momentum.
In 1999, the Indian team had won the ODI series 2-1 with Anjum Chopra striking a hundred and a half-century.
It is also a farewell series for the great Jhulan Goswami as India do not have any 50-over assignment till June 2023.
(With PTI Inputs)
