The Hundred: Harmanpreet Kaur Becomes Fifth Indian Woman To Feature In Tournament

Captain of the India T20 team, Harmanpreet Kaur will play The Hundred from the Manchester Originals side. The Indian skipper and top-ranked batting sensation Shafali Verma are not gearing up to play the inaugural edition of The Hundred in the UK starting on 21 July. Not only that, the novel 100-ball tournament will see the participation of as many as five India women cricketers.

Other players who will join in The Hundred are opener Smriti Mandhana, who has been signed up by Southern Brave, all-rounder Deepti Sharma, who will represent the London Spirit franchise, and Jemimah Rodrigues, who will play for the Northern Superchargers. 17-year-old Verma, has been named in Birmingham Phoenix team. "They're a hugely exciting group of players," said Beth Barrett-Wild, Head of The Hundred Women competition, Cricbuzz reported. She added that they Indian women will bring a lot to the competition.

Meanwhile, Kaur is excited to play the opening match in The Hundred, a brainchild of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). “It’s very exciting that I’m going to get to play in the first-ever game of The Hundred,” she said. Her team will face Oval Invincibles on July 21 and the cricketer, who is known for her explosive hitting prowess, is ready to break some records. "We’ve played in front of some large crowds in India, and it’s always a great experience for the players,” said the Captain.

The all-rounder Kaur, who had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this year, had to sit out during the last T20 series against South Africa in Lucknow after injuring herself in the fifth ODI in March. India women's cricket team returned to competitive cricket after a gap of almost 12 months. They were up against South Africa playing in five ODIs and three T20Is after playing on 8 March 2020 during the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020.

Kaur had played a significant role in India’s march to the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2017 final, where she scored an unbeaten 171 against Australia in the semi-final. Her captaincy was praised throughout the ICC Women’s World T20 in 2019. Then, she became the second Indian cricketer to play in the Kia Super League the same year. Mandhana, on the other hand, was the first to play in KIA, when she joined defending champions Western Storm earlier in June 2018. Watch how Harmanpreet Kaur’s powerful six cracked van’s window at KSL.