Smriti Mandhana to Lead India in ODIs vs Ireland as Harmanpreet Kaur, Renuka Singh Miss Out

The Indian women's cricket team is preparing for an electrifying three-match ODI series against Ireland which will start from January 10, 2025, at Rajkot. The series will be led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur who rested along with a pace bowler Renuka Singh. Indian vice-captain in this series is Deepti Sharma.

It will be the first bilateral tour of India for Ireland. The two teams last faced each other in the 2023 Women's T20 World Cup, which India won by five runs. The last time they played, Ireland was defeated 12 times and not even a single ODI match had been won against India.

This Indian team has quite balanced experience and raw talent. The leadership roles have the opening for new combinations and strategies with Harmanpreet Kaur absence in place of Mandhana. The vice-captain was going to be an important player, as Deepti Sharma had been a consistent dependable all-rounder.

Other important personalities include Raghvi Bist and Sayali Satghare. In the newly played T20I series played against the West Indies in the month of December 2024, Bist has shown hints of herself, scoring 5 and 31 in two different games. The other important person is Satghare, for whom this tour against New Zealand in the October 2024 received her first ever ODI but has not featured on the playing field yet.

Pratika Rawal and Tanuja Kanwar, who made their first appearances in the West Indies ODIs at Vadodara, are retained in the side. Their selection suggests that apart from the seniors, there is a focus on youth, too, that is being established in the team.

Shafali Verma is not included in the side, again. For somebody who has tried so prolifically in the Senior Women's One-Day Trophy, who topped the score chart with 527 runs in just seven matches - at an average of 75.29 - and showcased a breathtaking century of 197 against Bengal to boot, such a snub for Shafali is inexplicable. She did manage to produce a victory-winning 91 off 71 balls for Team A in the on-going One-Day Challenger Trophy match on January 5.

This exclusion has sent shock waves because Shafali has recently played very well, proving that she is capable of playing against any bowling attack. Still, the committee seems keen to try new combinations for this series.

Experience with Captaincy Mandhana

She doesn't lack leadership positions under her belt, as she also took over the captaincy of T20I against West Indies when Harmanpreet wasn't available for the last two matches. Her team was strong and resilient during her time and showed a good amount of adaptability under her leadership. Meanwhile, Harmanpreet has returned for ODIs and brought in some very valuable 88 runs over three games, but it is a different story in this current series with Mandhana facing more opportunities under the pressures of a series.

This will be a very historic series in Ireland's cricket journey, as the country is undergoing their first ever bilateral tour against India and gaining a first go to test the ladies against a much stronger Indian women's outfit in the Indian women's set-up. That having been a situation where India have been known historically to reign on top always, the ground of Indian condition itself will also hold a whole new deal of their future development opportunities.

Indian Squad for ODIs Against Ireland

Indian squad for the ODIs against Ireland is:

Smriti Mandhana (c), Deepti Sharma (vc), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Uma Chetry (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk), Tejal Hasabnis, Raghvi Bist, Minnu Mani, Priya Mishra, Tanuja Kanwar, Titas Sadhu, Saima Thakor, Sayali Satghare.

It has both youth and experience to ensure a depth in the batting and in the bowling. Players like Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, and Richa Ghosh can provide stability as well as fire power and so stability to the batting department. The bowling attack would be versatile as well as dynamic with its good-crafted attack by Tanuja Kanwar, Titas Sadhu, and Sayali Satghare.

Future Tours Programme

The India-Ireland ODI series is part of the Future Tours Programme for the 2022-2025 period, with a focus on competitive cricket and exposure for all participating countries. It therefore demonstrates that India cares about the opportunities for the youths as well as women's cricket around the world.

Looking Ahead

This series will give India a chance to try out their combinations and assess the talent that is coming up. With the Women's Cricket World Cup looming in the near future, these matches will prove crucial in determining the strengths and weaknesses of the squad

The younger players for the Indian women will look forward to making an international mark as a part of the series. Gaining vital experience, for the Irish side, this tour can help assess where they are headed with regards to the global class.

Looking at the very commencement of this series, excitement fills the atmosphere. Rajkot will certainly welcome some cricket action that it could hardly get more exciting in contests between the two teams.