Why did Smriti Mandhana Replace Harmanpreet Kaur As IND Captain vs NEP-W?

Harmanpreet Kuar has been rested and Smriti names stand-in skipper (X.com)

Indian women's team captain Harmanpreet Kaur has been rested for the 10th match of the Women's Asia Cup 2024, IND vs NEP, at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Dambulla. Stepping into her shoes for this crucial match, Smriti Mandhana emerged for the toss and will be leading Team India as the stand-in skipper.

Although the reason for her absence has not been revealed, both Harmanpreet and Pooja Vastrakar will miss this clash, and Arundhati Reddy and Sajeevan Sajana will fill their places.

As revealed during the toss, India Women won and opted to bat first. Winning this clash is necessary for the Woman in Blue as it would lock them a semi-final spot. 

However, two scenarios could result in the defending champions being knocked out: A) If Nepal scores 150 and restricts India to 77 runs or less, Nepal's net run rate will be 0.868, and India's will be 0.850. 2) Moreover, if Nepal chase a target of 151 and achieve victory with at least 10 overs remaining, Nepal's net run rate will rise to 0.931, and India's will be 0.908. 

If this happens then Nepal Women and Pakistan Women will qualify for the semifinals from Group A and India will be knocked out.

IND-W vs NEP-W: Playing XI

Nepal Women Playing XI: Samjhana Khadka, Sita Rana Magar, Kabita Kunwar, Indu Barma (c), Dolly Bhatta, Rubina Chhetry, Kajal Shrestha (wk), Puja Mahato, Kabita Joshi, Sabnam Rai, Bindu Rawal

India Women Playing XI: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana (c), Dayalan Hemalatha, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sajeevan Sajana, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Tanuja Kanwar, Renuka Singh Thakur, Arundhati Reddy

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