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Harmanpreet Kaur ruled out of England ODI series with ankle injury

The India women vice-captain didn't show up for training on Wednesday, having sustained an ankle injury

Harmanpreet Kaur during a fielding drill  •  Annesha Ghosh/ESPNcricinfo

Harmanpreet Kaur during a fielding drill  •  Annesha Ghosh/ESPNcricinfo

India women ODI vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur has been ruled out of the three-match ODI series against England in Mumbai with an ankle injury. Harmanpreet who trained on Tuesday at the Wankhede Stadium, missed the practice session on Wednesday. She will be replaced by batting allrounder Harleen Deol, who played for Board President's XI in Monday's warm-up match against a full-strength England side. The ODI series, part of the ICC Women's Championship's second cycle, begins on Friday.
ESPNcricinfo understands Harmanpreet sustained the injury a few days ago when she was in Patiala, where she trains under coach Munish Bali. Harmanpreet took part in the fielding sessions with the Indian team on Tuesday, to assess if she was comfortable running about. Harmanpreet, however, is understood to have not been feeling fully fit, and scans later revealed a grade-2 tear in the left ankle. She will fly to Bengaluru for a consultation at the National Cricket Academy, where the severity of her injury will be assessed further.
No decision on her participation in the three-match T20I series, to be played in Guwahati, has been made yet. However, in the event of Harmanpreet, the T20I captain, being unable to recover in time, her deputy Smriti Mandhana is likely to lead the side.
Harmanpreet's injury comes off the back of her forgettable run in the recently concluded tour of New Zealand, where she made 21 in the only innings she played in the ODI series, which India won 2-1. In the T20I series that followed, her returns of 17, 5 and 2 compounded India's batting woes in a 3-0 whitewash.
Deol's maiden national call-up, meanwhile, comes on the back of an impressive showing in the Challenger Trophy last month and more recently in the warm-up game against England on Monday, where she struck four boundaries in her 29-ball 21 before being run out by Natalie Sciver. During India's botched defence of 158 in the warm-up game, she gave away 40 in her four overs of offspin. An opening batsman who also doubles up as a middle-order option, Deol had played a vital role in Himachal Pradesh's run to the semi-finals in the inter-state one-day tournament last year.

Annesha Ghosh is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo