BCCI announces India Women’s team for limited-overs series against South Africa

India women cricket team is all set to make a comeback to international cricket with a limited-overs series against South Africa. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket South Africa (CSA) have decided to host a limited-overs series comprising five One Day Internationals and three T20 Internationals between the two nations at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow.

Women in Blue had last played an international fixture during the T20 World Cup final in Australia in 2020. They were expected to travel to England in the second half of 2020 but had to cancel the tour owing to the travel restrictions due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It is learned that before featuring in their first international assignment after almost an year, India’s women team will undergo a full-fledge training session on March 6.

The One Day series will commence from March 7, 2021 while the first T20I of the three-match series will be played on March 20. On February 27, Saturday, the All India women’s selection committee announced the squads for both ODI and T20I series against South Africa.

Mithali Raj to lead the India ODI team

Mithali Raj will be leading the squad in the 50-overs game while Harmanpreet Kaur will captain the side in T20Is. As far as the players are concerned, C. Pratyusha, Yastika Bhatia, Ayushi Soni, Swetha Verma, Monica Patel, and Simran Dil Bahadur have earned their maiden call-ups to Team India after delivering impressive performances in the domestic circuit.

On the other hand, Ekta Bisht, Anuja Patil, Veda Krishnamurthy, Taniya Bhatia, and Shikha Pandey failed to make a case for themselves in both ODI and T20I teams and have been dropped from the squad.

The official twitter handle of BCCI Women revealed the squads of both the teams with the caption, “NEWS: India Women’s squad for ODI and T20I series against South Africa announced. @Paytm #INDWvSAW #TeamIndia”

India Women’s T20I squad:

Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali, Jemimah, Deepti, Richa, Harleen, Sushma Verma (WK), Nuzhat Parveen (WK), Ayushi Soni, Arundhati Reddy, Radha, Rajeshwari, Poonam Yadav, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, C. Prathyusha, Simran Dil Bahadur

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) February 27, 2021

India Women’s ODI Squad: Mithali Raj (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), D. Hemalatha, Deepti Sharma, Sushma Verma (wicket-keeper), Swetha Verma (wicket-keeper), Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Mansi Joshi, Poonam Yadav, C. Prathyusha, Monica Patel

India Women’s T20I Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Sushma Verma (wicket-keeper), Nuzhat Parveen (wicket-keeper), Ayushi Soni, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, C. Prathyusha, Simran Dil Bahadur