Mumbai: Veteran all-rounder Rumeli Dhar made her comeback into the Indian women’s cricket team after six years as she was on Saturday named as replacement for injured veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami for the remaining three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against South Africa away.
Jhulan had suffered an injury to her heel ahead of the first T20I. On Friday, India registered a nine-wicket win in the second match and now lead the T20I series 2-0.
Rumeli, 34, played her last match for India in the One-Day International (ODI) series against Australia in March 2012.
She has represented India in 78 ODIs, 15 T20Is and four Tests.
With the men’s team also starting their T20 campaign at the same venue after the women’s match, the onus will be on the Smriti Mandhanas and Mithali Rajs to set the bar high for Virat Kohli’s team.
The added incentive is that the series will be telecast live before the men’s matches.
The women have so far put up a near flawless show in both the T20 encounters, winning by seven and nine wickets respectively.
Veteran Raj, who no longer leads the side in the shortest format, has displayed her wealth of experience with successive half-centuries — 54 no off 48 balls and 76 no off 61 balls — bagging ‘Player of the Match’ on both occasions.
