The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the India Women squad for the South Africa series which begins with the first ODI on 7th March. Veteran speedster Shikha Pandey along with wicket-keeper batsman Taniya Bhatia, both of whom played the T20I World Cup in March 2020, has been ousted from the 18 members ODI and T20I squad.
Batter Yastika Bhatia, wicket-keeper batsman Sweta Verma, veteran wicket-keeper Sushma Verma and all-rounder Challuru Prathyusha alongside left-arm pacer Monica Patel are the fresh inclusion in the squad. There is another name that has been a welcome entry into the team and it is that of pacer Mansi Joshi. Joshi would be making a comeback into the Indian side after 15 months, having been troubled by stress fractures.
New inclusion in the T20I squad includes Nuzhat Parveen as an extra wicketkeeper and cover for Sushma Verma, who has been named in a T20I squad after 2016. Ayushi Soni, Prathyusha and Simran Dil Bahadur are others who have found a place in the T20I side. While Harmanpreet would lead the Indian women in the shortest format, Mithali Raj would be the skipper in ODIs.
All the matches would be played at the Atal Vihari Vajpayee stadium in Lucknow.
ODI squad: Mithali Raj (c), Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur, D Hemalatha, Deepti Sharma, Sushma Verma (wk), Swetha Verma (wk), Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Mansi Joshi, Poonam Yadav, C Prathyusha, Monica Patel.
T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Sushma Verma (wk), Nuzhat Parveen (wk), Ayushi Soni, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, C. Prathyusha, Simran Dil Bahadur.
Schedule ODI Series
1st ODI- 07th March
2nd ODI- 09th March
3rd ODI- 12th March
4th ODI- 14th March
5th ODI- 17th March
Schedule T20I series
1st T20I- 20th March
2nd T20I- 21st March
3rd T20I- 23rd March