[WATCH] Harmanpreet Kaur-Smriti Mandhana ‘no handshake’ video goes viral following victory over Zimbabwe

India have sealed the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe 3-0 but something else caught everyone’s eyes in Vadodara. The Women in Blue defeated the visitors by eight wickets in the third game.

During the post match handshakes, former captain Harmanpreet Kaur and current captain Smriti Mandhana had a brief exchange which became trending online. As Harmanpreet moved towards the teammate, Mandhana looked in another direction. The two missed the handshake which became a talking point for the viewers.

The moment was brief and there is no clear evidence to suggest that it reflected tension between the two players. Recently, Harmanpreet handed over her captaincy to Mandhana after the Asian Games Gold Medal victory. The Zimbabwe series is the first assignment for Mandhana in which she won both ODI and T20I legs comfortably.

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How well did both players perform in this series?

In T20Is, Harmanpreet scored 92 runs in two innings at a strike rate of 204.44 and in ODIs, she scored 126 runs in one inning. The middle order batter scored a brilliant ton in the second ODI guiding the unit to set a fighting total. Meanwhile, Mandhana is not at her best in the ODI series but in T20Is, she scored 56 runs in two innings.

Overall, Harmanpreet has scored over 8000 runs across formats including nine centuries. On the other hand, Mandhana has scored over 9000 runs across formats including 18 hundreds consistently guiding the side at the top. Her captaincy is a new given role and all eyes will be on her how well she copes with both batting and captaining the Indian team. 

The next assignment for Mandhana will be touring South Africa where she will be handling an all format series. India will play Only Test on December 9 followed by three ODIs and three T20Is. Before the Only Test, they will play a Tour Match on December 6 against South Africa Emerging Players Women at Willowmoore Park, Benoni.