India won the toss and elected to bat against England in the second semi-final match of the ICC Women's World T20 in Antigua on Friday. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur decided to play an unchanged eleven from their match against Australia, which meant that veteran Mithali Raj missed out on the big match.
When Harmanpreet was asked whether Mithali is not playing because of an injury or has she been left out, the captain said that the team wants to back the winning combination.
We batted really well in the last few innings. Mithali Raj isn’t playing – we’re going with the same team as the last game. We’re backing the winning combination. We’re prepared enough whether we are playing under lights or under the sun.Harmanpreet Kaur
The 35-year-old made way for spinner Anuja Patil in the previous match due to a knee injury. The off-spinner turned out to be the pick of the bowlers in the match against Australia with figures of 3/15.
Therefore, the Indian team management have decided to back Anuja Patil ahead of Mithali, even though the ODI captain has scored two half-centuries in the tournament.
In the absence of Mithali, Taniya Bhatia will continue to open the batting with Smriti Mandhana.
(With inputs from IANS)
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