Harmanpreet Kaur, India’s regular T20I captain, was elevated to the leadership role in the ODI format after Mithali Raj announced her retirement from the international game on June 8.
India’s next international assignment is the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, where they will play three T20Is in Dambulla followed by as many ODIs in Kandy. Veteran right-arm quick Jhulan Gosawmi was the most notable absentee in the ODI squad, and so were Jemimah Rodrigues and Sneh Rana.
Harleen Deol, whose only ODI appearance dates back to 2019, has made the cut. She had finished the third-highest run-getter in the Senior Women’s One Day Challenger Trophy 2021-22, with 181 runs from three outings, but was overlooked for the 2022 ODI World Cup earlier this year.
Opener S Meghana and bowling all-rounder Simran Bahadur have been named in the 15-member ODI squad as well. The latter had made her debut during the New Zealand tour earlier this year but was left out of the World Cup squad.
As for the T20Is, Rodrigues makes a comeback after her stellar show in the Women’s T20 Challenge 2022 recently, which included a 44-ball 66 for Trailblazers against Velocity.
Left-arm spinner Radha Yadav has returned, while Rana, Taniya Bhatia and Ekta Bisht have been overlooked. Smriti Mandhana will serve as Harmanpreet’s deputy in both the formats.
The three T20Is in Dambulla will be played on June 23, 25 and 27 respectively, followed by three ODIs in Kandy on July 1, 4 and 7.
The new chapter in India Women’s cricket will begin without the services of Mithali Raj, the torchbearer of the Women’s game in the country. The holder of various records and the pioneer of Women’s cricket in India over more than two decades, she called it quits on a 22-year-long ODI career – the longest for anyone, male or female, till date.
Raj tops the run-scoring charts in ODIs with 7,805 runs at 50.68, and in the overall women’s international game with an aggregate of 10,868. She scored 699 runs at 43.68 from 12 Tests with four fifties and a century – 214 against England in 2002, which is India’s only double-century in the format till date and the second-highest individual score in Women’s Tests.
Also read 👉 Mithali Raj retires from all formats of international cricket game after 23 years
She led India in 12 Tests, 155 ODIs and 32 T20Is, and was at the helm during India’s campaign at the 2022 World Cup recently, wherein a heart-breaking last-over defeat to South Africa marked their exit from the competition. She had previously led the team to two World Cup finals, in 2005 and 2017, respectively.
