Mumbai: Focus would be trained on in-form opener Smriti Mandhana when she leads the Board President’s XI in a warm-up match against the visiting England women’s team here on Monday.
The match is being played at the Wankhede Stadium and Mandhana, who is being helped by team coach W V Raman to build up her patience, would be keen to put the lessons learnt into practice before plunging into the series opener here next Friday.
Mandhana recently scored 196 runs in the three- match ODI series against hosts New Zealand, including a 100 and 90.She would be keen to carry that form into the upcoming home series and a good knock in the warm-up match will only boost her confidence.
Apart from Mandhana, BPXI wicket-keeper R Kalpana is also in the ODI squad and she could also benefit from playing in the practice game. On the other hand, England women are a force to reckon with in the 50-over format and they utilise this game to get acclimatised to the pitch, weather and local conditions.
The England eves also boast of some big names in Tammy Beumont, Heather Knight and Danny White, who had smashed the Indian bowlers during the T20 series last year. The trio and others would be hoping to start the campaign on a positive note. The following three-match ODI series, forming part of the ICC Championship, will be played at the same venue on the 22nd, 25th and 28th of this month.
