Ace batter Jemimah Rodrigues and Shikha Pandey were among the notable absentees in the Indian women’s squad for the 2022 ODI World Cup. Mithali Raj will captain the side with Harmanpreet Kaur named as deputy.
The showpiece event will be held in New Zealand from 4 March to 3 April.
India open their campaign against Pakistan on 6 March and will also play a five-match ODI series between 11-24 February against New Zealand before the World Cup.
“The All-India Women’s Selection Committee on Wednesday picked the squad for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022. Team India play their first World Cup fixture against Pakistan on March 6th, 2022 at the Bay Oval, Tauranga. The squad will also feature in the 5-match ODI series against New Zealand starting from 11th February, 2022,” the BCCI statement on Thursday read.
Ekta Bisht, Sabbhineni Meghana and Simran Dil Bahadur are the stand by players in the squad.
The 21-year-old Rodrigues went through a lean patch in all the five ODIs she played since coming back from the pandemic-enforced break in women's cricket. She managed scores of 1, 9, 0, 8 and 4 in home fixtures against South Africa and a couple of away games in England.
Jemimah made it to the squad for the subsequent tour of Australia in September but warmed the bench during the three ODIs while Shafali Verma made the opening spot her own and the 21-year-old Yastika Bhatia impressed in her two outings at one-drop (35 off 51, and 64 off 69 in India's only win on tour).
Yastika, for whom this was a maiden call-up, found herself in the Indian top-order in the ODIs after having made an impression in the only tour game, where she scored 41 off 42 from No 4. As a left-hander, Yastika also offers additional flexibility to India's top-order that has captain Mithali at two-down.
Meanwhile, Pandey has featured in just three 50-over fixtures since a return in 2021, accounting for just two scalps. While India have overlooked the 32-year-old pacer, they have included younger quicks in Meghana Singh and Renuka Singh - both of who made their India debuts in Australia last year. Renuka Singh has featured in one T20I and remains uncapped in the 50-over format.
Punam Raut, who was part of the ODI squads for the England and Australia tours last year and a member of the team that finished runners-up in the previous edition of the World Cup, has also been left out.
Richa Ghosh will continue to keep the gloves for India, with Taniya Bhatia as back-up. Ghosh earned her stripes in Australia as well and her ability to score quickly fits in well with a team that is trying to improve in that regard.
Ekta Bisht, who was dropped from the central contracts list last March, is among the stand-by players that also includes Sabbhineni Meghana and Simran Dil Bahadur.
India squad for New Zealand ODIs and Women's World Cup: Mithali Raj (Captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav.
Standby Players: Sabbhineni Meghana, Ekta Bisht, Simran Dil Bahadur.
India Women's squad for one-off T20I:
Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, S. Meghna, Simran Dil Bahadur.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)