Smriti Mandhana likely to miss T20 World Cup due to an unfortunate injury

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In an unfortunate turn of events, the Indian team led by Harmanpreet Kaur might miss the services of their star batter and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana for the entire T20 World Cup 2023, which is set to begin in South Africa on Friday.

It is understood that Mandhana, who is currently with the team in Cape Town, has not only been injured but fractured the middle finger of her left hand. The left-handed batter sustained the injury while fielding in the warm-up game against Australia on Monday.



Even after getting a blow on her finger, the Indian maestro came out to bat against the Aussie women's side, only to score a three-ball zilch.

Mandhana had to miss India's second warm-up fixture against Bangladesh in Stellenbosch on Wednesday. 

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or the team management are yet to announce their deputy-in-chief's replacement or updates on the injury.

However, her participation in India's curtain-raiser clash against arch-rivals Pakistan is certainly doubtful. 

India's headache would now find a quality replacement for their batting backbone. In the southpaw's absence, the Women in Blue are left with Yastika Bhatia and Jemimah Rodrigues to open the innings with Shafali Verma. 

For this ICC event, the national selectors have kept the opening batter Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana and Meghna Singh as travelling reserves.