Mumbai, Feb 26 (IANS): Explosive opening batswoman Smriti Mandhana will lead the Indian T20I side in the absence of injured regular skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, as the BCCI on Monday named the squad for the three-T20I rubber against England, to be played in Guwahati.

Harmanpreet was ruled out of the series against England after suffering an ankle injury, and a BCCI statement stated that the star all-rounder will continue her rehab at the National Cricket Academy.

The Indian women are currently on a high, having taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI rubber of the International Cricket COuncil (ICC) Women's Championship.

The three T20Is will be played on March 4, March 7 and March 9 in Guwahati.

Squad: Smriti Mandhana (Captain), Mithali Raj, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Bharti Fulmali, Anuja Patil, Shikha Pandey, Komal Zanzad, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Veda Krishnamurty, Harleen Deol.