The Board of control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday (January 6) named its 15-member squad for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 which is scheduled to be played in New Zealand. The tournament will commence on March 4, with the final being played on April 3.
BCCI named a 15-member squad for the World Cup and Mithali Raj will be leading the team in the prestigious event. On the other hand, Harmanpreet Kaur will be the vice-captain of the side. The same squad will also play five ODIs against New Zealand
Notable exclusions
Veteran Shikha Pandey and 21-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues did not find a place in India's ODI squad or the reserves for the mega event. In the previous three-ODI series against England, Pandey took just two wickets. Also, she took 10 wickets in List A games (domestic cricket) which includes a four-wicket haul. It also includes four matches where she remained wicketless.
On the other hand, Rodrigues registered scores of 8 and 4 in two ODIs where she got a chance against England in July 2021. The last half-century she scored in ODIs was in November 2019 against West Indies. However, Rodrigues has had a good record in franchise cricket including Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) 2021 and the inaugural edition of the Hundred.
India will kick start their proceedings in the tournament on March 6. In the first match, the Mithali Raj-led team will be facing arch-rivals Pakistan at Bay Oval, in Mount Maunganui.
India’s 15-member squad:- Mithali Raj (Captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav
Standby Players:- Sabbhineni Meghana, Ekta Bisht, Simran Dil Bahadur
