India and Zimbabwe are facing off for the first time in women’s cricket, with the series also providing Mandhana an opportunity to lay the groundwork for the team’s preparations for the ICC Women’s Champions Trophy 2027 at home. ( Live Scorecard ) India vs Zimbabwe Live, 1st Women’s T20I : India have won the toss and opted to bowl against Zimbabwe in the first women’s T20I in Raipur. Star batter Smriti Mandhana is making her captaincy debut for India. The three-match series marks Mandhana’s first assignment as captain after Harmanpreet Kaur decided to step down from the role.
Her final chapter was a fitting one, with India winning both the Asia Cup and the Asian Games in 2026, less than a year after the ODI World Cup triumph at home. She has steered RCB to a couple of WPL titles, and she has led India in 18 T20Is, winning 11, with her latest captaincy stint during the Indian tour of England before the T20 World Cup. Niki Prasad, who led India to the Under-19 World Cup title, earns a maiden T20I call-up on the back of a strong series against Australia A, where she hit a couple of fifties. Minnu Mani is back in the T20I fold after roughly three years, with her last appearance coming at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. Charani, the top-ranked T20I bowler in the world, is in rich form, with 20 wickets in her last eight matches since the Women’s Asia Cup, the Asian Games included. More so, Charani has picked the most number of wickets in T20Is in 2026, with 47 wickets to her name. Josephine Nkomo will captain the same 15 against India. For a team that has lost their last 20 T20Is on the trot, Zimbabwe have nothing to lose in Raipur. Team form (Last 5 completed T20Is, recent first) – IND-W – WWWWW | ZIM-W – LLLLL. The ground offers little in the way of history, with only a couple of men’s T20Is played here, the latest during New Zealand’s tour of India in January, a high-scoring game in which India chased down a target of 200-plus. For Zimbabwe, it is a chance to prove their historic win over West Indies was no fluke and to end a losing streak that stretches back to September 2025.
When it comes to the ball, Zimbabwe won’t be short of choices. A new dawn – Women’s cricket is soaring to unprecedented heights, with teams expanding their reach across the globe. This marks a watershed moment as Zimbabwe Women step onto Indian soil for the very first time, embarking on a historic white-ball journey. India Women and Zimbabwe Women have never played against each other in any form of cricket, so this is indeed a historic moment. The Mandhana era begins – Harmanpreet Kaur has called time on her captaincy across all formats, ending an era that lifted Indian women’s cricket from perennial near-misses to world champions, and kept them among the front-runners even when the silverware slipped away. The armband now moves to Smriti Mandhana, one of India’s most reliable run-scorers. She arrives with plenty of captaincy miles behind her. With credentials like that, she looks well placed to take India to new heights. Shafali Verma has been named her deputy in the T20Is, while Deepti Sharma will be vice-captain in the ODIs going forward. Raring to go – Mandhana’s first squad as captain mixes seasoned match-winners with a handful of new names eager to leave a mark. Jintimani Kalita is also in line for her first taste of T20I cricket for India. Anushka Sharma, who featured against Australia A and struck three straight fifties in the one-dayers, gets the nod as well. Experience in plenty – The experience is firmly in place. Mandhana and Kaur anchor the batting, with the explosive Shafali Verma setting the tone at the top, while Richa Ghosh and Kamalini G hold down the middle order. Jemimah Rodrigues, however, is still nursing a hamstring injury, which leaves a question mark over India’s number three slot. The attack has a pace unit of Nandani, Kranti and Arundhati, with Arundhati in charge, and a spin trio of Deepti Sharma, Prema Rawat and Sree Charani. She has been among India’s most dependable weapons alongside Deepti, who remains India’s leading T20I wicket-taker by a distance. Lady Chevrons’ biggest assignment – Zimbabwe have kept faith with the squad that played West Indies in September and October. That group made history in Harare, claiming its first win in the ICC Women’s Championship with a four-wicket victory in the second ODI, and it was also their first ODI win over West Indies. Nyasha Gwanzura and Michelle Mavunga, who shared seven wickets in that win, stay on, as does Modester Mupachikwa, who top-scored in that match. Beloved Biza and Kelis Ndhlovu, the leading ODI and T20I run-getters respectively in the West Indies series, also remain in the squad. Kelis, in particular, is in some fine form, being Zimbabwe’s leading run-scorer in T20Is this year so far. Michelle Mavunga, Nomvelo Sibanda, Tendai Makusha, Nomvelo Sibanda and Kudzai Chigora give them a deep seam attack to rotate. The slow bowling rests with Nyasha Gwanzura, who also adds batting depth, and Loryn Phiri, while Beloved Biza is there to turn her arm over for a few overs if needed. They will fancy at least making this contest uncomfortable for the hosts, and the tour also hands them valuable experience of foreign conditions against one of the toughest opponents going. An uncharted territory – It’s a special occasion for Raipur, which welcomes its first-ever women’s international. When asked, Mandhana also reckoned it looked like a good batting surface. For India, it is the first chapter of the Mandhana era, and they walk in as firm favourites. Either way, Raipur will remember its first women’s international.
The stage is set in Raipur for three highly anticipated T20Is, before the action shifts to Vadodara for an equally entertaining three-match ODI series.
