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Gunalan Kamalini beats Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti as India teenager makes historic debut

Aakash Saini

Gunalan Kamalini [Source: @BCCIWomen/x]Gunalan Kamalini [Source: @BCCIWomen/x]

Mumbai Indians star Gunalan Kamalini earned her maiden international cap during India’s fifth T20I against Sri Lanka at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on December 30. Aged 17, the youngster was drafted into the Indian playing XI as a replacement for senior opener and team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana.

Through the process of her debut, Gunalan Kamalini also toppled her current national and WPL captain Harmanpreet Kaur, as well as legendary all-rounder Deepti Sharma to attain a major T20I landmark in Indian cricket.

Gunalan Kamalini becomes seventh youngest Indian debutant

Gunalan Kamalini made her international debut for Team India at a tender age of 17 years and 163 days through her appearance against Sri Lanka Women in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday, December 30.

In doing so, Kamalini became the seventh youngest Indian cricketer to make her T20I debut, even surpassing the likes of Deepti Sharma (18 years and 160 days) and Harmanpreet Kaur (20 years and 95 days). Here is a look at some of the youngest Indian Women debutants in T20Is, and where does Gunalan Kamalini rank among them.

Youngest India Women debutants in Women’s T20Is

Players
Debut age
Shafali Verma15y 239d
Richa Ghosh16y 137d
Sneha Deepthi16y 204d
Smriti Mandhana16y 261d
Devika Vaidya17y 109d
Jemimah Rodrigues17y 161d
Gunalan Kamalini17y 163d

In her maiden international match for Team India, Gunalan Kamalini was tasked the open the innings alongside blistering opener Shafali Verma. The teenager started off with a couple of confident boundaries despite losing Verma to Sri Lanka spinner Nimasha Meepage early in the innings.

Notably, Gunalan Kamalini also made her WPL debut earlier this year during the WPL 2025 season for the Mumbai Indians franchise. In the game against defending champions RCB in Bengaluru earlier in the tournament, Kamalini came up clutch with some tense match-winning runs in a thrilling last over finish.

The young wicketkeeper-batter was recently retained by the Mumbai Indians Women franchise, and is set to reprise her role under the leadership of Harmanpreet Kaur in the upcoming WPL 2026 season.