India Women. (Source – BCCI)
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup, slated to begin on October 3. Harmanpreet Kaur has been named as the captain, while Smriti Mandhana has been named her deputy. Meanwhile, Yashtika Bhatia and Shreyanka Patil have been included in the squad but their selection is subject to fitness.
Several notable names including Rajeshwari Gaekwad, Harleen Deol and Shikha Pandey, who were part of last year’s event, have missed out this year. Pandey turned out for Trinbago Knight Riders in the ongoing Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) to make iher case but the team management preferred an extra spinner as the conditions in the United Arab Emirates will heavily favour them.
Asha Sobhana has been included after a fantastic job for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Women’s Premier League 2024, which helped her get into the national team. She made her T20I debut recently against Bangladesh, picking four wickets in the two games she played in the five-match series at home. Sobhana also bagged a match-winning four-for on her ODI debut against South Africa in the home series.
Deepti Sharma, on the other hand, is in terrific form. She scored 212 runs in eight matches at a strike rate of 132.50 and also picked up eight wickets. Her presence in the middle order is extremely vital for the team as that’s one area India have struggled over the years. Richa Ghosh is also expected to play a key part in the tournament. The 21-year-old has played 55 T20Is for India so far and has scored 860 runs at a strike rate of 140.52.
Meanwhile, all focus will remain on the duo of Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana. After losing to Sri Lanka in the finals of the Asia Cup, they had to face criticism from all quarters, particularly Harmanpreet, as India have missed out on multiple ICC tournaments in her reign.
India’s squad for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024
Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk)*, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil*, Sajana Sajeevan.
Travelling Reserves: Uma Chetry (wk), Tanuja Kanwer, Saima Thakor
Non-Travelling Reserves: Raghvi Bist, Priya Mishra
*Subject to fitness clearance