UAE bowl against India; Tanuja Kanwar makes her debut

Report

UAE are in must-win territory having already lost their opening game in the women’s Asia Cup

Tanuja Kanwar earned her first cap for India. She plays for Gujarat Giants in the WPL  •  Arjun Singh/BCCI

Esha Oza, the UAE captain, called correctly and elected to bowl in a must-win game against India at the women’s Asia Cup in Dambulla.

UAE are looking to bounce back from an opening-day loss to lower-ranked Nepal. Oza announced an unchanged XI while stating the need to restrict India to as low a score as possible on what she described as a “fresh wicket.”

India come into the game on the back of a comfortable seven-wicket win over Pakistan. Harmanpreet Kaur hinted at possibly experimenting with their batting line-up depending on the start they get. She was forced to make one change with Tanuja Kanwar, the left-arm spinner, replacing Shreyanka Patil, who has been ruled out of the tournament with a finger injury.

Kanwar was initially in the stand-by list for the women’s Asia Cup and comes in straightaway at the first available opportunity. The 26-year-old left-arm spinner was one of the bright spots for Gujarat Giants during a disappointing WPL 2024, picking up 10 wickets in eight games at an economy of 7.13. Kanwar brings with her the ability to bowl with the new ball, apart from her usual variations in flight and guile.

UAE: 1 Esha Oza (capt), 2 Theertha Satish (wk), 3 Rinitha Rajith, 4 Samaira Dharnidharka, 5 Kavisha Egodage, 6 Khushi Sharma, 7 Heena Hotchandani, 8 Vaishnave Mahesh, 9 Rithika Rajith, 10 Lavanya Keny, 11 Indhuja Nandakumar

India: 1 Shafali Verma, 2 Smriti Mandhana, 3 Dayalan Hemalatha, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Jemimah Rodrigues, 6 Richa Ghosh (wk), 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Pooja Vastrakar, 9 Radha Yadav, 10 Renuka Singh, 11 Tanuja Kanwar

Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo