T20 World Cup 2023: Smriti Mandhana 'most likely' to miss Pakistan clash

Ace India opener Smriti Mandhana will “most likely” miss the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 opener against Pakistan due to a finger injury, batting coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar said on Saturday. Kanitkar, however, confirmed that Mandhana has not suffered a fracture and should be available for India’s second game against West Indies on 15 February. The coach also added that captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who picked up a shoulder niggle during the recent tri-series in South Africa, has been declared fit to play against Pakistan. “Harman is fit to play. She has batted for the last two days in the nets, she is fine,” Kanitkar said in the pre-match press conference. “Smriti has a finger injury and is still recovery, so she won’t play most-likely. It’s not a fracture and we’re hopeful she will be available from the second game onwards.”

Lets Go💙💙 #T20WorldCup2023 pic.twitter.com/Ezahg1H503

— Smriti Mandhana (@mandhana_smriti) February 11, 2023

India lost to Pakistan in the 2012 and 2016 T20 World Cups, but Kanitkar said that team is looking forward to the Sunday clash and is ready for all the challenges. “You want to be playing the strong teams, the arch-rivals if you can cal them that. Few of them have done it in the past, few haven’t. We are totally prepared for what happens, the atmosphere is good,” Kanitkar said. “Most of them have played Pakistan in the past, they know what can happen and what the atmosphere is like. One of the privileges of playing international cricket is you play matches like these. Everyone is looking forward to it.” Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.