BCCI announced squad for India Women’s tour of Bangladesh. And there comes a shock for fans as pace spearhead Renuka Singh, wicket-keeper Richa Ghosh, experienced all-rounder Shikha Pandey & left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad have been excluded from the announced squad. While announcing the squad BCCI didn’t mention the reason for their exclusion. Among the excluded players only Shikha Pandey is the one who hasn’t been awarded a central contract for the 2022-23 season. The rest of the players are a part of the central contracts for the 2022-23 season.
Some new faces have been given an opportunity to prove their prowess. Ghosh’s exclusion opened doors for Uma Chetry who is also a second wicket-keeper to Yastika Bhatia in T20Is & ODIs. Chetry who is a part of the India A team had recently won the ACC Emerging Nations tournament in Hong Kong.
There were maiden call-ups for Kerala all-rounder Minnu Mani & the left-arm spinning duo of Anusha Bareddy & Rashi Kanojiya for both T20Is & ODIs. Harmanpreet will continue to lead both squads while Smriti Mandhana would act as her deputy. On the other hand, top-order batter S Meghna & seam bowler Meghna Singh who was initially named as Reserves in India’s T20 World Cup 2022 squad have been included in the main squad.
India Women’s Tour of Bangladesh: Monica Patel & Priya Punia walks in, Radha Yadav walks Out
Left-arm seamer Monica Patel & batter Priya Punia are back in the lineup. Patel who has played in just two ODIs against South Africa in March 2021 is a part of both teams. She is an uncapped player in T20Is but will feature in the main squad in the ODI series. Meanwhile, Punia who last played in South Africa series along with Patel will feature in the ODIs. Radha Yadav who is a stunning spinning all-rounder has been excluded from both the squads. Selectors have instead included Maharashtra’s Devika Vaidya & Punjab all-rounder Amanjot Kaur into the squad. Notably, the duo made their debut earlier in 2023 in a tri-series in South Africa.
India’s tour of Bangladesh is India’s first assignment since the T20 World Cup 2022 in the February-March window where they lost the fixture against Australia in the semi-finals. All the players in the squads are part of a targeted group of players who underwent a fitness-intensive conditioning camp at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru in May.
India Women will return back to action since T20 World Cup 2022
It’s still not clear that to be appointed Head Coach for the Women’s team will be a part of the Bangladesh Tour. Former Mumbai Captain, Amol Muzamdar & Tushar Arother are in contentions for the role of India Women’s team head coach. The position of India Women’s team Head Coach was vacant since Ramesh Powar was removed as a part of BCCI’s restructuring process. Since then Hrishikesh Kanitkar has been serving as India Women’s team interim coach. Kanitkar was also a part of India Women’s team fitness camp in May.
India Women’s Tour of Bangladesh: India Women’s T20I Squad
Smriti Mandhana (VC), Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Devika Vaidya, Amanjot Kaur, S. Meghana, Pooja Vastrakar, Uma Chetry (wk), Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Monica Patel, Rashi Kanojiya, Anusha Bareddy, Minnu Mani
India Women’s ODI Squad
Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Devika Vaidya, Uma Chetry (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Priya Punia, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Monica Patel, Rashi Kanojiya, Anusha Bareddy, Sneh Rana
