Shikha has not been dropped, we want to give chance to other players: Harmanpreet

Since India Women were comprehensively beaten in the Women's T20 World Cup final by Australia, they have not played many competitive games. They played a few games in the Women's T20 Challenge in the UAE, but barring that, there has not been much cricket. Vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who will be playing her 100th ODI on Sunday (March 7), however, was quick to dismiss any signs of "rustiness" within the team.

"I don't think we are feeling any rustiness. We are very excited. I know it's a long break for us. Sometimes things are not under your control. I hope we have a great tournament," she said in a virtual press conference.

A few eyebrows were raised when India's senior pacer Shikha Pandey was not picked in the ODI side. She has been the leading wicket-taker for India Women since her debut in 2014, having picked up 73 wickets at 21.06 with an economy rate of under four. Her absence however, gives a great opportunity for someone like Mansi Joshi to prove her worth, having missed a huge chunk of cricket in the last two years due to injury. Harmanpreet insisted that Shikha has not been dropped, but a case of giving others a chance since they have a lot of cricket coming up.

"I know it was a tough call. Sometimes you need to give a chance to other players," Harmanpreet said.

"She is not dropped. We are just giving rest to few players and we want to try other players. I know we are playing after a long time. We wanted to go with the same combination and at the same time when you don't play too much cricket sometimes, you need to take chances and try t give chance to other players. Hopefully, after this tournament (ODI series vs South Africa), we will be able to get our combinations right. We have a lot of cricket coming up in the next 2-3 years. That's why we are giving chances to few other players," she added.

Despite the fact that there will be many new faces like wicketkeeper Sweta Verma, hard-hitting batsman Yastika Bhatia in the squad, Harmanpreet remains positive the team will figure out the combination ahead of the first match. "Before the start of the series, we had 4-5 days to get our combinations right. In the nets we tried a few combinations. I am sure before the first game we will fix our first XI," she said.

Talking about the the new members in the team, the batter said, "All of them are good. I have not played domestic cricket in a long time, so I did not know them personally. But after interacting with them, I feel good. When you have new players in the squad, you get a lot of energy. There's nothing more important than playing for your country, and with some new faces coming in, I hope the team does really well"

While a few other teams like England, New Zealand, and Pakistan have played more cricket over the least year, India have not been particularly lucky. But, Harmanpreet is not concerned and feels that her side needs to capitalise on the chance provided to them. "Every tournament is important, and definitely South Africa is one team which has done very well in last couple of years and for upcoming tournaments, it is an advantage for us to play well against them and regain our confidence since we are playing after a long time."

With the Women's World Cup just a year away, the five-match series against South Africa from March 7 will be a great platform for India to test their depth and get their combinations right. The ODI series will be followed by a three-match T20I series. All matches will be played at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow.