Smriti Mandhana is ready to play for India again after a personal setback. Mandhana, the vice-captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, was supposed to marry music composer Palash Muchhal on November 23 in her hometown Sangli. The wedding was first delayed and has now been cancelled, which she confirmed on Sunday.
She has already started training, and a photo from her practice session went viral on social media. Mandhana will now be seen in the five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka at home from December 21 to 30.
The first two matches will be in Visakhapatnam, and the last three will be in Thiruvananthapuram. This will be India’s first international series after their historic World Cup win.
Two young players, Gunalan Kamalini and Vaishnavi Sharma, have received their first call-ups. Kamalini, 17, has played nine matches for Mumbai Indians in the WPL. Vaishnavi, 19, was not part of the WPL auctions. They come in for Radha Yadav and Uma Chhetri, who were part of the World Cup-winning team.
The squad has all the regular names. Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the team and Mandhana will be her deputy. Big-hitting opener Shafali Verma, who replaced Pratika Rawal before the World Cup semifinal after Rawal got injured, is also in the squad.’
India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Harleen Deol, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh Thakur, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), G Kamalini (wicketkeeper), Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma.
After this series, the WPL 2026 will start on January 9 in Navi Mumbai. This India–Sri Lanka series was announced after the India–Bangladesh white-ball series, planned for December, was postponed last month. India and Sri Lanka last met in a T20I during the 2024 World Cup in October.
