India announced their squad for the Women’s T20 World Cup that takes place in South Africa in February with veteran seamer Shikha Pandey finding her way back into the side after spending a fair amount of time on the sidelines.
The BCCI, in a release shared on Wednesday evening, also announced the squad that is to take part in a triangular series in South Africa also featuring West Indies on the eve of the T20 World Cup, which is also to be hosted in the ‘Rainbow Nation’.
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led squad also features left-arm seamer Anjali Sarvani, who had made her debut in the recently five-match T20I series against Australia at home.
While the hosts were competitive with the bat, it was primarily with the ball with which they struggled during the series, which might be one of the reasons why the All-India Women’s Selection Committee was inclined to bring Pandey, who has over a hundred white-ball appearances for her country, back into the mix.
Opener Sabbhineni Meghana, who had featured in the Asia Cup earlier this year, is one of the three reserve players named by the selection committee for the World Cup, along with Sneh Rana and Meghna Singh. Additionally, all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar has been included in both the tri-series and the T20 World Cup squads but her availability is subject to fitness.
Read: Twitter celebrates Shikha Pandey’s return to Indian team
Also making her comeback into the side after spending some time on the sidelines is wicketkeeper-batter Sushma Verma, who has been included in the squad for the tri-series along with uncapped Amanjot Kaur. Sushma last represented the Women in Blue during the home series against South Africa and has not played a T20I for six years now.
The Women in Blue will be hoping to do one better at the T20 World Cup, which takes place between 10 and 26 February, this time around that their runner-up finish in the 2020 edition in Australia — a tournament that seamer Pandey was part of.
India’s squad for ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (Vice-Captain), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk) Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Anjali Sarvani, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey
Reserves: Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh.
India’s squad for Tri-series: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (Vice Captain), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Shushma Verma (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Shikha Pandey.
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