Team India women's bowler Shreyanka Patil shared a post on her Instagram handle after being ruled out of the ongoing Women's Asia Cup T20 2024. Patil fractured her finger on the left hand during the Women in Blue's opening fixture of their title defence against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dambulla on Friday, July 19.
Shreyanka Patil picked two wickets while conceding just 14 runs to bundle out Pakistan for 108 in 19.2 overs before Smriti Mandhana (45) and Shafali Verma (40) starred in India's 109-run chase. However, the 21-year-old injured her fourth finger of the left hand while taking a catch, which was confirmed by the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in her statement.
Ahead of the match against UAE, Harmanpreet Kaur-led side received a big setback after Shreyanka Patil was ruled out of the tournament due to finger injury. However, Shreyanka shared the news of her injury in a uplifting manner.
Taking to her Instagram handle, Shreyanka Patil exude her confidence of making a strong comeback after recovering from injury.
"Q; Who is going to make a strong come back?! Ans: Meeeeeeeeeeeee!!!" she wrote.
Team India management called in Tanuja Kanwar as the replacement for Shreyanka Patil for the remainder of the Women's Asia Cup T20. However, Shreyanka getting ruled out of the tournament was a blow for Women in Blow as she has emerged as one of the bowling mainstays for the team over the last one year.
Shreyanka Patil made her T20I debut against England and went on to play 11 matches and picked 16 wickets at an average of 18.75 and an economy rate of 7.14.
Team India eyes semifinal berth
Team India will look to qualify for the semifinal when they take on United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Dambulla on Sunday, July 21.
The UAE lost their opening match to Nepal by six wickets in Dambulla. With the defeat UAE chances of qualification to the semifinal looks semifinal until some miracle happens.
Meanwhile, India are the most successful side in the history of Women's Asia Cup, having a record seven titles and will be looking to extend their record title to 8 in the ongoing edition of the tournament.
The only time Women in Blue failed to win the Asia Cup was in 2018 when they were defeated by underdogs Bangladesh in the Final of the tournament.
