Women's T20 World Cup: Smriti Mandhana ruled out of opener vs Pakistan, Harmanpreet Kaur fit to play

India suffered a huge blow ahead of their opening game of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 as opener Smriti Mandhana has been ruled out of the blockbuster clash against Pakistan due to a finger injury.

Mandhana has not fractured her finger which means she could be available post the Pakistan match.

But, the good news for Team India is that captain Harmanpreet Kaur is fit to play and lead the women in blue on Sunday.

"Harman is fit to play. She has batted for the last two days in the nets, she is fine.

"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," stand-in coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar said at the pre-match press conference.

'We are totally prepared'

Talking about the upcoming clash, Kanitkar said the Indian team is raring to take on the women in Green in Group B.

"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.

"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," Kanitkar said.

India will take on Pakistan in Group B in Cape Town. The match will be played from 6.30 pm IST onwards.