(Cricket news) Indian women's cricket team are set to return to action for the only T20I against New Zealand. It would be fair to say that the match doesn't hold much importance as the 5 match ODI series leading up to the World Cup is the main focus. Nevertheless, Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the side for the first time since winning the player of tournament award in the WBBL. 

Six of the players in the Indian squad recently played the WBBL in Australia and performed well. Two other Indians in the WBBL are not in the squad, namely Radha Yadav and surprisingly Jemimah Rodrigues. Playing for Melbourne Renegades, Rodrigues had a very good tournament opening the batting. Before that she had a decent T20 series against Australia and also performed well in the Hundred. 

Rodrigues' exclusion in the squad along with that of senior seamer Shikha Pandey has attracted a lot of eyeballs over the selection policy. India still has a very good squad to win the World Cup and this T20I could be a good way to start, gain confidence and adapt to the conditions. ODI  captain Mithali Raj and strike bowler Jhulan Goswami are not playing, therefore this game could be a good opportunity for the others to cement their place in the side as two players would have to make way for the seniors as the squad for ODI's is the same.

India's possible playing XI:

Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Richa Ghosh(wk), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Poonam Yadav.

Bench: Taniya Bhatia, Rajeshwari Gaikwad, Ekta Bisht, S. Meghna, Simran Dil Bahadur

The Indian side is quite balanced with a deep batting line-up going until number 8 while also having 7 very reliable regular bowlers. The opening partnership is definitely India's biggest strength as both Verma and Mandhana compliment each other really well. The middle order is also very flexible with both Sharma and Rana capable of batting up the order. Deepti Sharma in particular could be pushed up the order to steady things if India lose 2-3 wickets in quick succession so that Ghosh and Kaur can come in later with their hitting power. 

New Zealand squad:

New Zealand Sophie Devine (c), Amy Satterthwaite, Suzie Bates, Lauren Down, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Hayley Jensen, Fran Jonas, Jess Kerr, Melie Kerr, Frankie Mackay, Rosemary Mair, Katey Martin, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu.
 

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