Sneh Rana and Indrani Roy the top performers in the only domestic tournament for Indian Women’s cricketers during the tournament-the ODI Trophy have been rewarded with a place in the senior team for the England tour. Shafali Verma, the swashbuckling opener has been named in the ODI and Tests squad for the first time as well. Rajeshwari Gayakwad's is the only key name missing in the squad which otherwise retains its core. It is learned that Gayakwad had tested positive for Covid-19 last month.
The All-India Senior Women's Selection Committee announced the squad for the one-off Test match, three ODI & five T20 matches which would be framed under three different series in three formats. The announcement was made on Friday, May 14, just a day after Ramesh Powar replaced WV Raman as the coach of the Indian Women’s team.
Jharkhand’s Roy was the main reason for the state’s first-ever appearance in the final of the prestigious domestic tournament with her tournament-leading runs tally of 456 runs in eight matches at an outstanding average of 76 and with two hundred in her kitty.
Rana, captaining Railways in Mithali Raj’s absence was phenomenal with both and ball, in fact, the off-spinner was the leading wicket-taker in the tournament with 18 scaps from eight games. She also scored 160 runs at a healthy average of 40.
Fast bowler Shikha Pandey, who was left out of the India squad for the South Africa series has made a comeback to the squad in all formats as well. While Mithali has the reigns of Tests and ODIs, her deputy in those formats, Harmanpreet Kaur would wear the captain’s hat in the T20Is.
The team is scheduled to reach England with the Men’s team on June 02, while the series starts with a one-off Test in Bristol from June 16. The team would then play the first ODI at the same venue on June 27 before moving to Taunton for the second game on June 30th. After finishing the final ODI in Worcester on July 03rd, the team would move northwards. The three T20Is are scheduled for July 09th, 11th and 15th at Northants, Hove and Chelmsford respectively.
India’s Senior Women squad for Test & ODI: Mithali Raj (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy (wicket-keeper), Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav.
India’s Senior Women squad for T20I: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain) Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Indrani Roy (wicket-keeper), Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Simaran Dil Bahadur.