Smriti Mandhana to Lead India Cricket Team in Asian Games

Smriti Mandhana to Lead India Cricket Team in Asian Games: As per officials, Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana will lead team India in the Asian Games 2023 quarter-finals and semi-final matches.

ICC has banned Harmanpreet Kaur for two matches because her inappropriate behavior against Bangladesh in the 3rd One Day International.

She smashed the stumps and later went on to take a dig at the match officials.

After winding up the Bangladesh tour, India will next be seen only during Asian Games. Kaur & Co have directly qualified for the Continental Games owing to finishing higher in ICC Women’s T20I Rankings.

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With no Kaur, Mandhana now has a huge task to enable India to reach the finals of the Asian Games 2023 event set to be played from September 19 to October 7 at Hangzhou.

Harmanpreet Kaur has been fined 50 percent of her match fees for the Level 2 offense. The right-hand batter also received three demerit points.

She was found guilty of breaching article 2.8 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, the MI skipper also had to part ways with 25% of her fee for a Level 1 offense as she took a dig at match umpires during the game and post-match presentation.

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Kaur’s absence will be a mighty blow for India, who aims to end the trophy draught after failing to win any major ICC Trophies in the last two years.

India finished runners-up in Commonwealth Games, reached the semis of the T20 World Cup, and did not qualify for the last four stages of the 50-over World Cup in 2022.

The Asian Games is yet another opportunity for the Women’s team to put those disappointments back and bring the Trophy home, but this time they have to do so without Kaur for two knock-out games.

(With input from Insidesport)