England's stand-in skipper Natalie Sciver is set to sit out the upcoming limited-overs series against India citing her mental health and wellbeing. Sciver, who has been deputising as the captain in the absence of the injured Heather Knight, will join Katherine Brunt on the sideline ahead of the first T20I which will take place on Saturday, September 10.
Addressing her mental health issues, she said, "I’ve played a lot of cricket over the last nine months and I am very emotionally fatigued. Elite sport demands a lot and for the moment I’m not able to perform without compromising my own well-being, so I need to take some time away from cricket in order to focus on myself. It’s the right decision for me and it’s the right decision for the team."
Earlier, Knight was ruled out of the tournament after suffering a back injury, while Brunt has been rested for the series because of her workload. She has played a number of tournaments recently, including the
multi-format series against South Africa and then the Commonwealth Games (CWG) campaign, where England finished fourth after losing to India in the semifinals and then to New Zealand in the third-place match. Sciver was a captain in both these tournaments.
Brunt and Sciver also featured in the Hundred Women’s 2022 representing Trent Rockets.
In Sciver's absence, the England and Wales cricket board have named Amy Jones as the captain for the T20I series, while the board is yet to announce the ODI squad.
India defeated England at the CWG 2022 to make way into the finals before losing the ultimate clash against Australia where they eventually lost to win the silver medal. India’s tour of England for T20I and ODI is a crucial one as it is also the farewell series of one of the greatest — Jhulan Goswami — who has scripted her name as a stalwart of the game in women’s cricket.
With both teams having plenty of in-form players, the contest will be worth watching, starting in Durham.
