Pooja Vastrakar and Sneh Rana will be sidelined from the five-match T20I series against Australia that will begin on December 10. Vastrakar was listed as being unavailable owing to an undisclosed injury in the BCCI announcement announcing the squad, while Rana’s absence was not explained.
Meanwhile, left-arm seamer for Railways, Anjali Sarvani received her first national call-up after topping the Inter-State Women’s T20 competition with 17 wickets at an average of 5.70 and an economy rate of 3.34, as well as the Inter-Zonal T20 competition with 10 scalps at an average of 10.80 while conceding at just 4.50.
All-rounder Devika Vaidya, has made a comeback into the Indian squad, eight years after she played her only T20I. The 25-year-old had previously been a member of the Indian T20 World Cup squad in 2018, but did not feature in the playing eleven in the tournament. The home ODI series against England in 2018 was Vaidya’s last assignment with the Indian side.
Shikha Pandey has surprisingly been left out despite an impressive performance in the Inter-State T20s, when she picked up 11 wickets at an average of 10.90 and an economy rate of 4.28. India appears to still be focused on developing younger fast bowlers. Renuka Thakur will likely lead the Indian pace bowling contingent, and will be accompanied by the likes of Meghna Singh and Sarvani.
India’s most recent T20I assignment, the Women’s Asia Cup, saw Rana pick up seven wickets in six games. With Rana not in the squad, the onus falls on Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, and Rajeshwari Gayakwad, who have all been named in the Indian side.
In all likelihood, Richa Ghosh will be the first-choice wicketkeeper while Yastika Bhatia has been chosen as her backup. D Hemalatha and Kiran Navgire, two batters who were part of the side in the Asia Cup, have been axed from the side. SB Porkharkar, Simran Bahadur, and Arundhati Reddy will also be a part of the side as net bowlers.
Mumbai will host all five matches of the T20I series, which begins on December 10. The DY Patil Sports Complex will be the venue of the first two matches before the action shifts to the iconic Brabourne Stadium.
