India have announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka Women. This is India's first series after lifting the ODI World Cup trophy for the first time last month but the format is different and the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side has some ground to cover in the shortest form of the game. Meanwhile, Smriti Mandhana continues to be the vice-captain and will also be playing for the first time since calling off her wedding on Sunday.
As far as the squad is concerned, India have dropped three players - Radha Yadav, Yastika Bhatia and Sayali Satghare - who were all part of the previous squad for the series against England. Moreover, teenage players Kamalini G and Vaishnavi Sharma have earned their maiden call-ups for the series as India prepare for the Women's T20 World Cup in England next year.
The wicketkeeper-batter, Kamalini, has been retained by the Mumbai Indians in the Women's Premier League (WPL) for Rs 50 lakh. She also finished with 297 runs in seven matches at the Senior Women's T20 trophy. As for Vaishnavi, the left-arm spinner accounted for 21 wickets in the Senior Women's T20 trophy. She was also the leading wicket-taker in the Senior Women's Inter-Zonal T20s, with 12 scalps in five matches.
Vizag and Thiruvananthapuram to host T20Is
For the unversed, the India vs Sri Lanka T20I matches will be played in Vizag and Thiruvananthapuram. The first two matches on December 21 and 23 in Visakhapatnam, while Thiruvananthapuram will host the last three matches of the series on December 26, 28 and 30.
India Women T20I squad vs Sri Lanka: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Harleen Deol, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh Thakur, Richa Ghosh (wk), G Kamalini (wk), N Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma.
