Lancashire Thunder has signed India women’s T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur for the 2018 edition of the Kia Super League (KSL), says the reports of ESPNcricinfo. While there is no formal announcement as yet, it is believed that she is expected to reach the country around July 15. Kaur is the second Indian to get the KSL contract after deputy Smriti Mandhana signed a deal with defending champions Western Storm.

Former Australia vice-captain Alex Blackwell will be Harman’s coach and it will help her to play under Alex as she had earlier in the Big Bash League for Sydney Thunder.

Kaur is a proven T20 cricketer and she even captained the IPL Supernovas to a win over Mandhana’s Trailblazers in the first-ever Women’s T20 Challenge exhibition game in India. Mandhana was the first one to get a KSL contract when Western Storm signed her on June 14. Kaur was set to play for Surrey last year, but she had to withdraw due to an injury.

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After getting the KSL contract, Smriti had said, “I am very excited to be playing for the Kia Super League champions. To be the first Indian player to appear in the tournament is a real honor and I hope that I can help Western Storm to more success.”

Mandhana has amassed more than 826 runs with a high score of 76 in the 40 T20Is that she has played in. She has also scored 1464 runs in 41 ODIs at an average of 37.53 with a high score of 135.

In addition to her impressive international exploits, Smriti has also featured in the Big Bash for Brisbane Heat.

Talking about the association, Western Storm coach, Trevor Griffin said, “We are really excited that Smriti will be joining us. She is one of the brightest young talents in the game at the moment. Although she is still young, she has a great deal of experience of the game at the highest level and we believe that she will prove to be an excellent signing.”