Jemimah underwent rehabilitation at the NCA and was included in the squad for the upcoming home series against South Africa, subject to fitness. On 13 June, he captained the Board President's XI in a tour game against South Africa, which could not last more than 14 overs due to rain.
“Jemima is now fit and well; she's back. She is very experienced and has been performing really well for many years. This is a very balanced batting team and hopefully we will have a balanced batting line-up.Whatever is expected of us as a batting team, we will go and do,” Harmanpreet said in the pre-match press conference.
He also said that a decision has to be taken on Richa Ghosh's batting position, especially with Yastika Bhatia being ruled out due to injury. In India's last ODI series against Australia, which they lost 3–0, Richa was moved to number three and scored 96 in the second ODI at the Wankhede Stadium.
He said, 'In the last series, I was at number four and Jemima was batting after me. But this time our main difference will be that there is no Yastika. He is injured and is in rehabilitation.So as we all know that Richa is going to keep, and because she is going to keep now, we have to keep a lot of things in mind - like where will her batting order be, so that it is easy for her to play the game, " He added.
This is a year in which India's focus is on mastering the 20-over format so that they can give their best performance in the Women's T20 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh from October 3-20. So, where does this ODI series against South Africa fit in?
Harmanpreet, who recorded single-digit scores in the series against Australia, felt that the three ODIs would give her more game time at the crease.
“We take it as an opportunity because nowadays we are playing more T20I games, even though there is WPL too, and ODI is something where as a player you have more time to assess yourself and even the conditions. There is more time for. So, I think we take it as an opportunity and it's good for us that we're getting more game time, especially in the middle, and getting a chance to express ourselves.Top-order batsman Priya Punia is returning to the ODI squad after more than a year, while fast bowling all-rounder Arundhati Reddy is also included after impressive performances in WPL 2024. Harmanpreet welcomed the return of both of them to the ODI team and wished them good performance.
“I think the message is very clear that even though they were not in the team before, their performances in the domestic matches, the way they have been performing for the last two and three years, we have not overlooked them. We gave them enough time to prove themselves again and again and get ready for international games.
“I am really happy with the way Arundhati has played in the WPL in the last two seasons. Priya has also done very well in domestic cricket, especially in the ODI format and she is a player who has been scoring runs for a long time.“As a team, it’s great to have him back in the team.”
“They are great players and when they come back into the team, our team is very balanced. I am really happy with his performance and am looking forward to him now, because I hope he will perform well in international cricket as well.
Harmanpreet signed off by talking about the preparations for the multi-format series against South Africa, which included various camps over the past few weeks, and was mentioned by head coach Amol Majumdar on Friday.
“Well, that was a thorough batting camp for fitness, fielding and the batting unit.For the bowlers, he bowled a lot in NCA and at the same time he was also taking care of his fitness. We practiced with both white and red balls and played more than 4-5 matches.
“We were preparing ourselves for the South Africa series because here we are going to play all three formats. Those camps were really good for us and I have seen a lot of improvement in the last few weeks. Hopefully, whatever we have done in that camp, we will go out and perform well.'
“Jemima is now fit and well; she's back. She is very experienced and has been performing really well for many years. This is a very balanced batting team and hopefully we will have a balanced batting line-up.Whatever is expected of us as a batting team, we will go and do,” Harmanpreet said in the pre-match press conference.
He also said that a decision has to be taken on Richa Ghosh's batting position, especially with Yastika Bhatia being ruled out due to injury. In India's last ODI series against Australia, which they lost 3–0, Richa was moved to number three and scored 96 in the second ODI at the Wankhede Stadium.
He said, 'In the last series, I was at number four and Jemima was batting after me. But this time our main difference will be that there is no Yastika. He is injured and is in rehabilitation.So as we all know that Richa is going to keep, and because she is going to keep now, we have to keep a lot of things in mind - like where will her batting order be, so that it is easy for her to play the game, " He added.
This is a year in which India's focus is on mastering the 20-over format so that they can give their best performance in the Women's T20 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh from October 3-20. So, where does this ODI series against South Africa fit in?
Harmanpreet, who recorded single-digit scores in the series against Australia, felt that the three ODIs would give her more game time at the crease.
“We take it as an opportunity because nowadays we are playing more T20I games, even though there is WPL too, and ODI is something where as a player you have more time to assess yourself and even the conditions. There is more time for. So, I think we take it as an opportunity and it's good for us that we're getting more game time, especially in the middle, and getting a chance to express ourselves.Top-order batsman Priya Punia is returning to the ODI squad after more than a year, while fast bowling all-rounder Arundhati Reddy is also included after impressive performances in WPL 2024. Harmanpreet welcomed the return of both of them to the ODI team and wished them good performance.
“I think the message is very clear that even though they were not in the team before, their performances in the domestic matches, the way they have been performing for the last two and three years, we have not overlooked them. We gave them enough time to prove themselves again and again and get ready for international games.
“I am really happy with the way Arundhati has played in the WPL in the last two seasons. Priya has also done very well in domestic cricket, especially in the ODI format and she is a player who has been scoring runs for a long time.“As a team, it’s great to have him back in the team.”
“They are great players and when they come back into the team, our team is very balanced. I am really happy with his performance and am looking forward to him now, because I hope he will perform well in international cricket as well.
Harmanpreet signed off by talking about the preparations for the multi-format series against South Africa, which included various camps over the past few weeks, and was mentioned by head coach Amol Majumdar on Friday.
“Well, that was a thorough batting camp for fitness, fielding and the batting unit.For the bowlers, he bowled a lot in NCA and at the same time he was also taking care of his fitness. We practiced with both white and red balls and played more than 4-5 matches.
“We were preparing ourselves for the South Africa series because here we are going to play all three formats. Those camps were really good for us and I have seen a lot of improvement in the last few weeks. Hopefully, whatever we have done in that camp, we will go out and perform well.'
