There’s little that can dent the momentum of a high-flying Indian team at home, in its favourite format – One Day Internationals – hosting a side ranked 11 places below it: Zimbabwe. More so after a dominant 3-0 sweep of the T20I leg of a historic maiden bilateral engagement.
But one thing can: injuries. But with the inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy around the corner, India will sweat over Renuka’s fitness and bowling rhythm. Josephine Nkomo’s side is far from a pushover, and will hope to pose a tough question or two to the ODI behemoth.
Damages to India’s seam resources have been a thorn in the side of the reigning 50-over World champion, and its resistance faces a setback with Renuka Singh ruled out courtesy of not building the required bowling volume for 50-over cricket at the BCCI Centre of Excellence. Match starts at 2 p.m. The Women’s Premier League and changes (however slow) in prioritising pace at the domestic level have pushed a greater raw pool to the doors of the team which means this type of an absence won’t sting as much as it would have a few years ago. Jemimah Rodrigues’ absence due to injury means the door opens for someone like Yastika Bhatia and Tejal Hasabnis — who have registered stellar scores at the A level recently — or Harleen Deol, part of the World Cup-winning side in 2025 but who has since lost fallen out of favour.