Harmanpreet Kaur creates history, becomes first Indian to achieve massive international milestone

India captain Harmanpreet Kaur etched her name into the history books as she created a massive record during the first T20I against Sri Lanka at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, on Sunday, December 21. 

Kaur and the Indian team are in action for the first time since winning the ODI World Cup 2025 last month. With her appearance in the first T20I, Kaur has created history by becoming the first Indian to feature in 350 international matches.

She has become the second player, after New Zealand veteran Suzie Bates, to feature in 350 or more international games. 

Players to feature in most international matches: 

1 - Suzie Bates: 355 matches

2 - Harmanpreet Kaur: 350 matches*

3 - Ellyse Perry: 347 matches

4 - Mithali Raj: 333 matches

5 - Sophie Devine: 305 matches

Coming back to the match, India opted to bowl after winning the toss. "We want to bowl. Dew will be a factor here, and secondly, we are playing with 3 pacers. So, let's see how they are going to use these conditions," Harmanpreet said at the toss.

Kaur confirmed that India are handing



a debut to U19 World Cup star Vaishnavi Sharma. "Today we have one debutant, Vaishnavi, playing her first game today. And apart from that, I think all the old players are there. Everything is going well. It's a new series for us. A new format. And hopefully we'll enjoy ourselves here. We always talk about playing fearless cricket. And that is something we put a lot of energy into. And today is something we really want to do. Whatever we are doing, we want to do it with fearlessness," she said,

"We had a good preparation, and I hope we can play our best cricket today. A lot of youngsters are coming in. We have a good team. So, we stick with our plans. That's the most important thing. Gimhani is a 17-year-old girl. So, I hope she will play her best cricket today," Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu said.

Sri Lanka Women (Playing XI): Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu(c), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Nilakshi de Silva, Kaushani Nuthyangana(w), Kavisha Dilhari, Malki Madara, Inoka Ranaweera, Kawya Kavindi, Shashini Gimhani

India Women (Playing XI): Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur(c), Richa Ghosh(w), Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani