ICC Women's World Cup 2022: Mandhana cleared to play after suffering blow to head

Smriti Mandhana suffered a blow to the head during the ICC Women's World Cup 2022 warm-up. However, she has been cleared to compete in the main tournament, starting March 4.

Indian women cricketer Smriti Mandhana suffered a scare after being hit on the head during the 2022 ICC Women's World Cup warm-up match against South Africa on Sunday. While she seemed okay after the incident, she was forced to retire hurt. However, she has been cleared to participate in the main tournament that gets underway from Thursday.

It was a bouncer off pacer Shabnim Ismail that rattled Mandhana for a moment. After the team physio checked her, she continued for an over more before retiring hurt. The International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed in a report that she had no concussion symptoms or any delayed effects related to the case.

Mandhana was looking in a fine touch, as India won the warm-up game by a couple of runs. She recently scored her 20th ODI half-century against New Zealand before coming to the tournament. To date, she has amassed 2,461 runs in 64 ODIs at an average of 41.7 and a strike rate of 84.7, including four centuries.

The incident happened a day later after young Indian wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan was stuck by a Lahiru Kumar bouncer during the second Twenty20 International (T20I) against Sri Lanka on Saturday. He looked in some discomfort and was dismissed in the same over. He was taken to the hospital later at night to undergo a CT scan and was kept under the doctor's observation. Nonetheless, he was released on Sunday morning but was not included in the playing XI for the final T20I on the same day.