Snehasis Mukherjee in Guwahati
On the eve of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 opener, Team India had a long, intense net session. They take on Sri Lanka on September 30 at the ACA Stadium, Guwahati.
The players entered one by one, but all eyes were on the all-rounder, Amanjot Kaur. Since a back injury sustained during the England tour, Amanjot has yet to play any competitive cricket.
On September 27, during a warm-up game in Bengaluru, she did not bowl at all. She batted only for five balls against England in the second warm-up clash.
However, today she was seen starting her bowling. At first, she was just rolling her arms over, but soon, she was seen marking her run-up, and then she started bowling.
Though it seems that she is not back in full rhythm yet, in such hot and humid conditions, she had a long bowling session.
She was bowling to Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal in rotation. Later, after a long bowling practice, she batted as well.
It was a good sign, although only time will tell whether she will make it to the playing XI against Sri Lanka. At least, it seems she is in the right direction to get her full fitness back.
Another interesting thing observed during the session was bowling coach Aavishkar Salvi making sure that all the bowlers bowled with wet balls. He was individually seen going up to the bowlers, putting water on the ball from a bottle, and then observing how they bowled with it.
It was a definite practice for dew, which is expected to affect most matches this time of year in Indian conditions. N Shree Charani and Kranti Gaud were the first to try that, followed by others.
When it came to the batters, all of them batted for brief periods. There was some fun banter as well. Local girl Uma Chetry was also seen. Some enthusiastic fans were also there, cheering for skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who was playing some lovely shots.
However, Renuka Singh Thakur was not seen bowling at all. It appears that a planned workload balance was in place ahead of the opener.
But just before the end of the practice session, when most of the players had left, Mandhana was seen batting again in the nets and that showed her dedication and commitment.
For More Exciting Articles: Follow RevSportz