India vs Bangladesh Women: Harmanpreet Kaur hoping for better wickets in ODIs after slow pitches in T20Is series

Mirpur: India captain Harmanpreet Kaur is hoping that they will get better pitches to bat on in the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh beginning here on Sunday. India managed to win the T20 series 2-1 but their batters had a tough time on the slow surface at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. The visitors struggled to 95 and 102 in the second and third games while Bangladesh had posted 114 in the series opener. Harmanpreet said ODIs are a different ball game to T20s and her batters would need to show the patience to put up competitive totals in challenging conditions. “Wherever we go we want to play on good tracks, fair tracks but how much I know we are going to play on the same track tomorrow. Hopefully, we will get a better wicket for the last two games. “In Asian conditions, tracks can be slow. As a batting unit, we have to work hard for the runs and we are ready for that,” said Harmanpreet on the eve of the first ODI. Bangladesh could have actually won the series had they not self-destructed in their chase of 95 in the second T20. They will be in good spirits after the win on Thursday and the India skipper is expecting a tough fight from the home team. Barring Harmanpreet, India do not have any six-hitter in the squad and that hurt them in T20s. The likes of Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues will get more time to construct their innings in the 50-over format. Opener Shafali Verma’s form has been under the scanner for a while now and she would look to silence her critics. Of late, India have found a way to post 270-plus totals regularly but in the prevailing conditions, Harmanpreet feels that would be a far cry. “Wicket is quite slow and we are not expecting too many runs. Rather than thinking about those big totals, getting (enough) runs for the teams is most important,” she said. Bangladesh have recalled Shamin Akhter for the series. Shorna Akter, Marufa Akter and Salma Khatun have also been included. India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Devika Vaidya, Uma Chetry (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Priya Punia, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Monica Patel, Rashi Kanojiya, Anusha Bareddy, Sneh Rana. Bangladesh squad: Nigar Sultana (C), Nahida Akter, Murshida Khatun, Fargana Hoque, Sobhana Mostary, Shorna Akter, Ritu Moni, Lata Mondal, Disha Biswas, Marufa Akter, Sharmin Akhter, Sanjida Akter, Rabeya Khan, Sultana Khatun, Salma Khatun, Fahima Khatun, Shamima Sultana. Match starts 9 am IST.