India's spinners Shree Charani and Deepti Sharma will once again be under focus after their combined eight-wicket outing against Pakistan
It will be an important game for the Indian skipper, who will be eyeing his first ODI series win as the full-time ODI captain
Cricketer Smriti Mandhana has been named by TIME magazine among this year's 100 most influential people in sports, the only Indian to be featured on the list. TIME's list of the 100 Most Influential People in Sports 2026 features athletes, coaches, advocates and investors who are "people shaping sports today." The list, headlined by American basketball legend LeBron James, includes superstars from the world of sports such as football icon Lionel Messi, Chinese-American skier Eileen Gu, tennis star Carlos Alcaraz, basketball player Victor Wembanyama, legendary golfer Rory McIlroy among others. The other big names in the list include another football icon Cristiano Ronaldo, South African cricket captain Temba Bavuma, who last year led his team to a historic Test series win in India as well as victory in the World Test Championship (WTC), basketball player for the New York Knicks Jalen Brunson and FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Mandhana, 29, the vice captain of Indian women's nation
Emotions ran high after the hosts successfully defended 17 runs in the one-over shootout to register a thrilling victory
India's rise in women's cricket has been built on talent, but its greatest strength may now be something less tangible: an ability to recover when the pressure is at its highest
Powered by a classy half-century from Smriti Mandhana and a devastating bowling display led by Deepti Sharma, India begin their campaign with a strong win.
The live streaming of the India Women vs Pakistan Women match will be available on the JioHotstar app and website in India
While India and Pakistan have met 16 times in T20Is overall, seven of these encounters came during the Women's T20 World Cup events
The two teams will now come face to face in the second ODI on Wednesday at Lucknow's Ekana Stadium
A positive start from Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma could be crucial to India's hopes of setting the tone for the tournament
Afghanistan opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, on Saturday, credited India head coach Gautam Gambhir for his technical inputs after smashing a 51-ball 102 against the hosts in the opening ODI here. While Gurbaz lit up the HPCA Stadium here with his explosive stroke play around the wickets to hammer eight sixes and as many fours for a ninth ODI ton, no other Afghanistan batter could provide any resistance against the Indian bowlers as they were bowled out for 194. Gurbaz revealed that a chat with Gambhir, with whom he has shared the dressing room during his KKR days, proved to be fruitful. It happened after Afghanistan's innings and 300 run defeat in the one-off game at Mullanpur. "After the Test match, I had a very good conversation with Gautam Gambhir sir (and) that discussion really helped me," Gurbaz told the broadcaster. "I worked on those ideas in the nets, and I'm very grateful for the guidance. When the Test match ended, I told him that I wanted to improve my shot selection," he ...
As part of the preparations, India are planning to strengthen their bench strength as they will field two debutants in Dharamsala in the form of spinner Harsh Dubey and pacer Gurnoor Brar
According to the weather report, the first ODI between India and Afghanistan in Dharamsala could be heavily affected by rain, with the probability of precipitation highest in the early afternoon
JioHotstar in India will stream the India vs Afghanistan first ODI match through its app and website
The ODI series vs Afghanistan will be crucial for the home side, who are still going through the process of transition with skipper Gill at the helm
Shreyas Iyer's T20I appointment signals India's move away from the all-format captaincy model that shaped the Dhoni, Kohli, and Rohit eras, towards a more format-specific leadership
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has strong Youth ODI numbers and an IPL 2026 Orange Cap, but India's ODI depth means he must prove himself in senior cricket
India have lost five of their last nine Tests on spin-friendly tracks and now face a Sri Lankan side whose home success still rests heavily on slow bowling
Manav is now the tenth Indian bowler to take a five-wicket haul on Test debut
India's win by an innings and 300 runs against Afghanistan is now their biggest victory in Test cricket by margin of runs