Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur set to play in Women's Big Bash League
India's T20I captain and vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana have been confirmed to take part in the upcoming 2018-19 Women's Big Bash League that will get underway on December 1.
While Kaur, who signed a two-year contract ahead of the 2017 season, has extended her contract with the Sydney Thunder, her deputy Smriti has found a new home in the WBBL as she signed a new deal with Hobart Hurricanes after playing for Brisbane Heat in the previous seasons.
Both Kaur and Smriti are hot commodities in T20 cricket which is very evident from their performances of late for India and for their teams in the Kia Super League competition. Smriti, playing for the Western Storm, scored 421 runs in nine innings at a strike-rate of 175 and hit 21 sixes, which are all-time records in women's league cricket which includes the WBBL. He will be joining her Storm teammate and England captain Heather Knight at Hobart.
Kaur, on the other hand, recently smashed a century in the Women's T20 World Cup and has single-handedly won games for India, Thunder and her KSL side Lancashire Lightning in the past.
"I'm really excited to have another opportunity in the WBBL this summer. I've heard from many players that the Hurricanes group is a great squad to be around and I can't wait to get to Tasmania for the matches," Smriti said talking about her upcoming WBBL stint.
Smriti might miss Hobart's first game of the season, which is also the tournament opener, against Perth Scorchers in December and will make her debut for the franchise against Melbourne Stars on December 8.
The third Indian woman, who has represented a WBBL team, Veda Krishnamurthy, who turned up for Hobart last season, has been replaced by her Indian teammate in the side.