ICC Women’s World T20 2018: 5 key players for India
The Indian women’s team will be taking part in the prestigious 10-team ICC Women’s World T20 2018 to be held in West Indies from 9th to 24th November.
Since its inception in 2009, India does not have a good record in the World T20 tournaments with their best performances being a semi-final appearance in the 2009 and 2010 editions. In the 2018 edition, under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Kaur, the Indian team are alongside Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Pakistan in Group B.
India begins the tournament against New Zealand on Friday, followed by the encounter against arch-rivals Pakistan on 11th, against Ireland on 15th and final group match on 17th against Australia.
With a mix of youth and experience and a few players, who have played in T20 leagues around the world, let us take a look at the top 5 Indian players key to India's chances in ICC WWT20 2018
#1 Smriti Mandhana
The stylish left-handed batter played for Western Storm in the Kia Super League 2018 was the tournament's top run-getter with 421 runs from 10 matches (9 innings) at an amazing strike rate of 174.68 during 2018. In the tournament, she smashed 2 half centuries and 1 century. She also scored the joint fastest half-century off 19 balls and also scored 102 off 61 balls against Lancashire Thunder.
In T20I format for India, Mandhana played 47 matches so far, scoring 868 runs at a strike rate of over 110 with the highest score of 76.
In limited overs format this year, Mandhana has been in superb form against South Africa, Australia and England. With the way she is playing at the present moment, the Indian team will be looking at her to provide a good start and help post a big total.
In 2018, Mandhana has played 20 T20I matches for India (18 innings) and scored 444 runs with a strike rate of 132.93. She has scored 4 half centuries, including her career-best tally of 76 this year and she will be looking to continue that in the WWT20.