CHENNAI: Veteran India pacer Shikha Pandey and wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh have been left out of the squad for the upcoming Bangladesh tour of India where the women's side is scheduled to play three T20Is and ODIs from July 9. Meanwhile, spinner Radha Yadav and medium-pacer Renuka Singh Thakur are understood to have missed out due to injuries.
In what will be the senior women's team's first assignment since the 2023 T20 World Cup, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side will not have both the frontline pacers they fielded in the semifinal defeat against Australia. Shikha, who had made a comeback for the South Africa tour after being left out of the side in 2021, was the best Indian pacer in the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League with ten wickets in nine innings, operating at 6.59 runs per over. The next Indian pacer on the list was Anjali Sarvani who had four wickets to her name followed by Pooja Vastrakar and Arundhati Reddy (two wickets each).While Anjali is a part of the squad, along with Pooja, Arundhati isn't. Meghna Singh, who last played for India in December 2022 and was a standby for the T20 World Cup (she was not signed by any franchise in the auction), has found a place in the squad for the tour. In the batting department, barring Richa, there aren't many surprises. Harleen Deol and Yastika Bhatia retain their place with S Meghana, another standby in the T20 WC, to be included in the squad. Sneh Rana is not included in T20Is, but named in the ODI squad. As has been the case in the past, no reason was listed in the press release of the Indian cricketing board for the omissions or selections.
Minnu gets India call-up Kerala all-rounder Minnu Mani, who was a part of the Delhi Capitals franchise, has earned her maiden India call-up. And so has Assam wicketkeeper Uma Chetry and Andhra's B Anusha — both of whom were a part of the Indian contingent that won the Emerging Asia Cup last month. Monica Patel, who made her debut in the home series against South Africa in March 2021, has made a comeback to the side in both formats. Monica who was a part of the Gujarat Giants franchise in the WPL will be the second left-armer in the side along with Anjali. Similarly, 26-year-old Priya Punia, who last played for India in March 2021, has also made a comeback in the 50-over format. The contingent is expected to assemble in Mumbai on July 5 before leaving for Bangladesh on the next day.
