Women’s T20 World Cup: Absolutely fine, says Harmanpreet Kaur after recovering from fever ahead of semi-final

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said she has completely recovered from illness for the T20 World Cup 2023 semi-final against defending champions Australia in Cape Town on Thursday.

There were doubts over her availability for the crunch contest but Harmanpreet said she completely recovered from a fever and was ready for the big clash.

It was Harmanpreet who led India out for the toss at the Newlands in Cape Town. Meg Lanning won the toss and Australia opted to bat in the big-ticket semi-final, a repeat of the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup from 2020.

Questions were raised when Harmanpreet Kaur skipped training on the eve of the semi-final but it emerged that a couple of Indian players fell ill. Notably, fast bowler Pooja Vastrakar was ruled out of the semi-final due to illness and Sneh Rana replaced her in the XI.

India also made a couple more changes to get the balance right. They dropped leg-spinner Devika Vaidhya and brought back batter Yastika Bhatia, while Radha Yadav who missed India’s final group game against Ireland replaced senior left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad. India wert in with a batting-heavy team for the semi-final against Australia.

On the other hand, Australia brought back Alyssa Healy, who recovered from quad injury after missing their final group game. Leg-spinner Alana King was dropped as Australia opted for experience in Jess Jonassen.

Australia have been on a terrific run in T20 World Cups, winning the last 2 editions and reaching the final in the last 6 editions of the tournament. India have been the only side to beat the mighty Australians in the last 18 months with their latest win coming in a 5-match home series which Australia won 4-1.

INDIA VS AUSTRALIA, T20 WORLD CUP SEMI-FINAL XIs

Australia: Alyssa Healy (wicketkeeper), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning (captain), Ashleigh Gardner, Ellyse Perry, Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris, Georgia Wareham, Jess Jonassen, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown

India: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia, Sneh Rana, Shikha Pandey, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur Singh