Smriti Mandhana likely to return for West Indies clash

The Women in Blue and their fans can finally heave a sigh of relief as Smriti Mandhana is all set to return to action after a finger injury in India's second league match against West Indies on Wednesday (February 15) at Newlands stadium in Cape Town. 

The southpaw was ruled out of the opening fixture against Pakistan, which the Indian team won by seven wickets. While she was a doubtful starter for their second game against the Windies, Troy Cooley, the bowling coach of the side, shared details on her progress in a pre-match press conference. 

"She's been working very hard, and it will obviously be assessed after today. We're pretty confident that she got through the session today and did everything she needed to do," he said. 

The 57-year-old also heaped praises on Deepti Sharma and the all-around abilities that lend balance to the side and said, "She's an exceptional player, and she bowled three overs in the power play, one at the death, and you know, we also only had three fielders out," he said. 

"The girls are very good at reviewing their own performances and have some good conversations with them. Deepti is one of the key players, and she's going to go for a few runs some days. That's just the nature of this T20 game. But she has bowled in high-pressure situations, and we believe she did a good job," he further added. 

Ahead of the game, Harmanpreet Kaur skipped training, but the bowling coach stated that she is indeed fit for the game but opted to take some rest between the matches. 

"She has a very good training program. She knows the game inside out, and you won't see her very regularly coming in the day before a game. But she's fit, and she's got a smile on her face, and she's hungry to score some runs, which is great, and lead this team," he concluded.