"She is fit and fine": Deepti on Harmanpreet's injury ahead of 2nd ODI against Australia Women

Hobart [Australia], February 26 (ANI): Indian Women's cricket team all-rounder Deepti Sharma provided an update on skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's fitness, saying, "she is fit and fine" ahead of the second ODI of the series against Australia Women, set to be played on Friday at Hobart's Bellerive Oval.
Harmanpreet Singh sustained a knee injury while batting during the first India Women vs Australia Women ODI at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Tuesday. The injury kept her from returning to the field in the second innings of the match.
In a post on X, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said that Harmanpreet had sustained an injury to her left knee while batting and that the medical team is monitoring her progress. With Harmanpreet unavailable, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana took charge of the side.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference ahead of the Hobart ODI, Deepti Sharma, when asked about Harmanpreet's injury, said, "I can say that she is fit and fine."
Coming to the match, India Women lost the match by six wickets. After being restricted to 214 in 48.3 overs, Australia Women chased the target in 38.2 overs with six wickets remaining, to clinch the ODI series opener.
Deepti Sharma reflected that the team played well in the first ODI but didn't get the desired result, and expressed confidence in bouncing back stronger in the next game.
"As a team, we played really good. But, obviously, the result has not come in our way. But, obviously, we are looking forward as a team and we will come back stronger in the next game," the Indian all-rounder said.
"Personally, I'm always confident with them whenever we play. We want to play our good and best cricket in the next game," she added.
Before the ODI series, India clinched the three-match T20I series 2-1. Reflecting on that series win, Deepti noted the team performed well with bat and ball both in the T20Is and will try to adopt the same approach in the remaining ODIs and the one-off Test, which is scheduled to get underway from March 6.
"In the T20Is, we played really good as a team, whether it's the bowling unit or the batting unit. The rest of the matches, as well, we are focusing on the same approach, like how we did in the T20Is. But, obviously, we'll focus on how we'll keep getting better in every match and in the coming Test," Deepti said. (ANI)