CHANGE OF GUARD
Harmanpreet Kaur has already captained India five times in ODIs. © Getty
Hours after Mithali Raj’s international retirement, Harmanpreet Kaur has been named India’s ODI captain for their upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. India will play 3 T20Is in Dambulla and 3 ODIs in Kandy on their tour, the BCCI said.
Jhulan Goswami, who’s 39 and hasn’t yet announced her retirement from the ODIs yet, doesn’t find herself in the squad alongside Sneh Rana. Middle order batter Harleen Deol, who’s played just the one ODI, has been called up instead.
Opening batter S Meghana recently scored 73 for the Trailblazers in the Women’s T20 Challenge and has been rewarded with a place. Bowling all-rounder Simran Bahadur, who made her ODI debut against New Zealand earlier this year but didn’t make the cut for the World Cup, finds a place in the squad now.
India’s ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), S Meghana, Deepti Sharma, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Simran Bahadur, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol.
For the T20I squad, led by Harmanpreet again, Jemimah Rodrigues makes a return although she continues to miss out on the ODI squad. Left-arm orthodox bowler Radha Yadav also makes a comeback, having played her last and only ODI back in March 2021. There’s no place for Ekta Bisht in the squad.
India’s T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), S Meghana, Deepti Sharma, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Simran Bahadur, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Radha Yadav.
Source: Cricbuzz