Vadodara, October 23, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat first against India in the opening match of the three-match ODI series at the BCA Stadium in Kotambi on Friday.
Zimbabwe will be without regular captain Josephine Nkomo, who is sidelined with a niggle. Nomvelo Sibanda has been named stand-in captain for the match.
India, meanwhile, have handed an ODI debut to all-rounder Jintimani Kalita. The Smriti Mandhana-led side will aim to carry its winning momentum into the 50-over format after completing a 3-0 clean sweep in the preceding T20I series.
After winning the toss, Sibanda said Zimbabwe would look to post a competitive total and put pressure on the Indian team.
“We want to put runs on the board, put scoreboard pressure. We want our batters to dominate. Our regular captain Nkomo is out with a niggle. We want to carry on from the positives into this series as well,” Sibanda said.
India captain Mandhana revealed that the team had made several changes from the side that featured in the T20I series. She also expressed confidence in Kalita, who joined the squad in place of Renuka Singh on Thursday after impressing in the India A series.
“We were looking to bat first as well; overhead conditions are good to bat, but it’s a good thing we will know what to chase. We have a debut: Jintimani. Exciting player, she had a good India A series, and we have a couple of changes from the T20I side for sure,” Mandhana said after losing the toss.
She added that adapting to the ODI format would take some time after the T20I series, but the team had prepared for the transition during its net sessions.
“Balancing T20Is and ODIs… this format, we all know that we’ve done well in the past. It will take some time for us to adapt, but everyone in the net session practised that,” she said.
Mandhana also pointed to the change in playing surface, noting that India had played on black soil during the Women’s Premier League but would now return to red soil, which she said was more familiar to the team in Baroda.
Playing XIs
Zimbabwe Women: Beloved Biza, Sharne Mayers, Nyasha Gwanzura, Modester Mupachikwa (wk), Chiedza Dhururu, Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, Michelle Mavunga, Nomvelo Sibanda (c), Tendai Makusha, Loryn Phiri and Olinder Chare.
India Women: Smriti Mandhana (c), Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Harmanpreet Kaur, Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Shree Charani, Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare and Jintimani Kalita.
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