India Women announce squad for white-ball series against Australia: Details
The BCCI has announced the limited-overs squads for the Indian women's cricket team for the upcoming Australia series. After winning the historic Test match against Australia on home soil, Harmanpreet Kaur will look to inspire the team to keep up the winning momentum. The ODI and T20I teams have a fine mixture of experienced campaigners and some fresh faces.
Why does this story matter?
India Women have been hot and cold in their last few limited-overs series. They lost the T20I series against England (2-1) earlier this month. Before that, they drew the ODI series against Bangladesh while winning the T20I series 2-1. However, they also won their maiden Asian Games gold medal in Hangzhou, China. But recent wins in Test matches will surely boost their morale.
Four uncapped players included in India's ODI squad
Saika Ishaque, Shreyanka Patil, Mannat Kashyap, and Titas Sadhu have received their maiden ODI call-ups for India. The likes of Renuka Singh and wicket-keeper Richa Ghosh return to the setup after missing out on the Bangladesh tour. The former was injured back then, and Ghosh was left out for Uma Chetry. Ishaque, Shreyanka, and Sadhu have all featured for India in WT20Is.
Here's India's ODI squad
India's 16-member ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Amanjot Kaur, Shreyanka Patil, Mannat Kashyap, Saika Ishaque, Renuka Singh Thakur, Titas Sadhu, Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, and Harleen Deol.
India remain unchanged from the England T20I series
Despite losing 2-1 against England earlier this month, India went with the same T20I lineup. The onus will be on the regulars like Harmanpreet, Smriti, Jemimah, Deepti, Shafali, Renuka, and Pooja to overturn the results this time against the Aussies. India's ODI and T20I squads are mostly the same as Kanika Ahuja and Minnu Mani have come in for Harleen and Sneh in T20Is.
A look at India's T20I squad
India's T20I team for the Australia series: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Amanjot Kaur, Shreyanka Patil, Mannat Kashyap, Saika Ishaque, Renuka Singh Thakur, Titas Sadhu, Pooja Vastrakar, Kanika Ahuja, and Minnu Mani.
A look at the schedule
India's ODI series against Australia will start on December 28 at the Wankhede Stadium. The second and third ODIs will be played on December 30 and January 2 respectively. They will also feature in a three-match T20I series, starting January 5 at the DY Patil Stadium. The next two matches will be played on January 7 and January 9 respectively.
Ishaque, Shreyanka showed promise in England T20Is
Ishaque and Shreyanka were the bright lights in the England T20I series. Both the spinners scalped five wickets each in the three-match series. The duo also had a brilliant WPL 2023. Ishaque finished as the joint second-highest wicket-taker with 15 scalps, while Shreyanka claimed six.
