India women have announced a 15-member squad led by Harmanpreet Kaur for the upcoming T20 competition in Commonwealth Games, which start on July 29 in Birmingham. Offspinning all-rounder Sneh Rana, who was rested for their white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, returns back.
Rana, who returned to the side in 2021 after five years of gap, has done well across formats. Head coach Ramesh Powar had stated ahead of the Sri Lanka tour that Rana had been rested to manage the workload.
“Sneh has been rested for this series and she is in the NCA working on her fitness. Moving forward, the FTP that we have, there are about 20-25 T20 games and we want our players fresh for all the series.
We want to manage the workload of the bowling unit as well as the batting unit. We are trying to balance it out. As of now, she is being rested and is working on her fitness,”
said Powar.
In another rather surprising development, Taniya Bhatia has been recalled to the side as one of the two wicket-keepers ahead of Richa Ghosh.
Bhatia hasn’t played any T20I since the T20 World Cup final against Australia in March 2020. Ghosh has been left out of the 15-member squad and named as one of the stand-by players. Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav and seam bowling all-rounder Simran Dil Bahadur are the other two stand-by players.
Yastika Bhatia has been elevated to the primary wicket-keeper’s role. India had earlier preferred Ghosh for her big-hitting down the order, having done exceptionally in the New Zealand series prior to the ODI World Cup earlier this year.
She had scored 146 runs in the series at an average of 49 while striking at 114. However, she only managed 81 runs from seven innings in the World Cup. Her poor form continued through the women’s T20 challenge and the following Sri Lanka tour.
Jemimah Rodrigues, who returned to the side in Sri Lanka after she was left out of the squad for the ODI World Cup, has retained her place. Rodrigues scored 72 runs in the three-match T20I series, including an unbeaten 36 in the first game to rescue the team. S Meghana, who played at no. 3 in that series, has also kept her spot.
Meghna Singh and Harleen Deol, who were selected only for the ODI series against Sri Lanka, have also been included in the squad. Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar and Renuka Singh will form the pace-bowling attack. Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav will handle the spin department, along with support from Deol and Rana.
Women’s cricket will be part of the Commonwealth Games for the first time ever, with eight teams fighting in the T20I format. All the matches are to be played at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
England, Australia, India, South Africa, New Zealand, Barbados, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have been split into two groups. India are in Group A alongside Australia, Pakistan and Barbados. India will kick off their campaign with the opening game against Australia on July 29.
