After a successful culmination of the Women's U-19 T20 World Cup, cricket fans around the world are now gearing up to witness the eighth edition of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to be played in South Africa. The multi-national tournament will begin on February 10, 2023, with the final slated to be played on February 26, 2023. The onus will now be on the Indian senior women's team to replicate the heroics of the U-19 side. The marquee competition will be staged across three venues - Cape Town, Paarl and Gqeberha - in South Africa.
A total of 10 teams have been divided into two groups of five teams each. India have been placed in Group 2 along with England, West Indies, Pakistan and Ireland while defending champions Australia are placed in Group 1 alongside New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the semi-finals.
Ahead of the Women's T20 World Cup 2023 Team India Squad, let's take a closer look at the 15 Indian players.
Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain): The swashbuckling right-handed batter will be leading Team India for the third time in the women's T20 World Cup. Under her leadership, the Women in Blue finished as runners-up in the previous edition of the tournament, losing against the host Australia in the final. Harmanpreet has so far scored 2,940 runs in 146 T20Is at an average of 28.26, including a century.
Smriti Mandhana: The attractive left-handed batter is Harmanpreet's deputy. Mandhana has played 112 T20Is scoring 2,651 runs at an average of 27.32.
Shafali Verma: The teenager recently lifted the U-19 World Cup with tears trickling down from her eyes and displayed emotions that got over 1.4 billion people reveling in the historic achievement. After winning the U-19 World Cup, Shafali's next target is to clinch the T20 World Cup, a trophy that she and India came close to securing but stumbled at the final hurdle. Even though she is just 19 years old, Shafali has already represented India in 51 T20I and her record is imperious. The explosive batter has aggregated 1,231 runs at a superb strike rate of 134.53 with the help of five half-centuries.
Yastika Bhatia: The wicketkeeper-batter hails from Baroda, Gujarat, and has so far played 13 T20Is for India, scoring 125 runs at an average of 15.62.
Richa Ghosh: Team India's dashing wicketkeeper-batter hails from Bengal. Richa has so far scored 427 runs in 30 T20Is at an average of 22.47.
Jemimah Rodrigues: All Indian fans have high hopes from dashing batter Jemimah in the upcoming T20 World Cup. Hailing from Mumbai, the right-handed batter has so far played 75 T20Is for India, aggregating a tally of 1,575 runs at an average of 29.71.
Harleen Deol: Hailing from Chandigarh, Harleen would like to become a wall in India's middle-order. She has so far scored 245 runs in 21 T20Is for India at an average of 17.50. Harleen is a handy customer with the ball as well. She has taken a total of six wickets with her leg-spin.
Deepti Sharma: Hailing from Agra, Uttar Pradesh, Deepti is one of the leading all-rounders of the team. She has often dug India out from precarious positions either with her batting or bowling. Deepti has so far scored 914 runs in 87 T20Is for India at an average of 26.11, while taking 96 wickets with her off-break spin bowling.
Devika Vaidya: With her three-dimensional play, Devika has made her place in the squad in short period of time. She has so far played 11 T20Is for India, scoring 89 runs in the process. At the same time, she has also taken six wickets with her leg-spin bowling.
Radha Yadav: Hailing from Maharashtra, Radha is one of the key spinners in the squad. With her slow left-arm spin, she has so far pocketed 65 wickets in 63 T20Is for India.
Shikha Pandey: Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, Shikha is India's premier pacer, who is no mug with the bat as well. The right-arm pacer has so far played 59 T20Is India, bagging 40 wickets in the process. She has also scored 207 runs with the bat.
Renuka Thakur: Hailing from Shimla, Renuka has made a name for herself through fast-bowling prowess. The right-arm pacer has bagged 24 wickets in 27 T20Is for India. On the fast pitches of South Africa, Renuka would like to wreak havoc with her bowling.
Pooja Vastrakar: Right-arm fast bowler Pooja hails from Madhya Pradesh. The Indian pacer has 28 wickets in 43 T20Is while scoring 257 runs at an average of 16.06 with the bat.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad: Hailing from Karnataka, Rajeshwari is a slow left-arm spinner. She has taken 58 wickets in 51 T20Is for India so far in her career.
Anjali Sarvani: Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, Anjali is the only left arm pacer in the Indian squad. Anjali has so far taken three wickets in six T20Is for India.
