The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 18-member squads for the upcoming white-ball tour of Bangladesh. This will be the first time that the Indian women's team will be playing since the T20 World Cup in South Africa in February and the players will be in action for the first time since the Women's Premier League (WPL) in March. While Harmanpreet Kaur will continue to lead the side in both formats, there have been some significant changes from the team that took the field in South Africa four months ago.
The emerging star duo of Renuka Singh Thakur and Richa Ghosh have been left out from both the squads while the veteran pacer Shikha Pandey who had made a comeback in the T20 World Cup and was probably the best Indian pacer on show in the WPL was nowhere to be seen. No one knows if these players have been rested to look at a few more young players or have been dropped.
Similarly, the likes of Yastika Bhatia and Meghna Singh continue to be in the T20I side while all-rounder Sneh Rana has been left out as well. Sneh has just been picked into the ODI side. Assam wicket-keeper batter Uma Chetry has been picked as Bhatia's backup while the likes of Rashi Kanojiya, Monica Patel, Anusha Bareddy and Kerala's Minnu Mani have been called up to the side.
The Indian women's team is said to play three T20Is on July 9, 11 and 13 followed by as many ODIs on July 16, 19 and 22 against the hosts Bangladesh. All six matches will be played at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka. While the T20Is are scheduled for a 1:30 PM IST start, the ODIs will kick off at 9 AM IST.
India women's T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Devika Vaidya, Uma Chetry (wk), Amanjot Kaur, S. Meghana, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Monica Patel, Rashi Kanojiya, Anusha Bareddy, Minnu Mani
India women's ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Devika Vaidya, Uma Chetry (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Priya Punia, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Monica Patel, Rashi Kanojiya, Anusha Bareddy, Sneh Rana.
