image source– BCCI Women Twitter/ X handle
On Tuesday, 27 August, the BCCI announced a 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup. The main squad will also be accompanied by 3 traveling reserves. As expected, the team will be led by the veteran, Harmanpreet Kaur, and her long-time deputy, Smriti Mandhana has been named as the vice-captain.
• Top Order
Among the other seasoned names, Shafali Varma who was India’s top run-getter with 200 runs at a strike rate of 141 in the recently concluded Asia Cup will feature at the top alongside the vice-captain, Mandhana who scored 174 runs at a strike rate of 137.
The duo also had good WPL campaigns where Shafali was the third-highest run-scorer with 309 runs at a strike rate of 156.85 in 9 innings. Smriti was just after Shafali with 300 runs in 10 innings, striking at 134. The latter also led her side, RCB to their first-ever title. Recently, the southpaw also featured in the Hundred but had a rather disappointing stint with the Southern Brave.
The 29-year-old, Dayalan Hemalatha, who has scored 266 runs for Gujarat Giant at a strike rate of 143 across the two seasons has also been named in the squad as another option at the top. She featured in 3 innings of the Asia Cup while just being able to score 63 runs.
• Middle Order
The middle order will be led by the experienced duo of Jemimah Rodriguez and captain Harmanpreet Kaur followed by the explosive Richa Ghosh.
Kaur has been under a bit of scrutiny following India’s loss in the Asia Cup final where she just scored 82 runs in 4 innings which included a 66-run knock against UAE and a run-a-ball 11 in the final will have to turn things around for her and get those important runs under her belt while leading the team from the front. She would like to replicate her WPL performances where she got 268 runs in 7 innings at a healthy strike rate of 141.05.
Jemimah, on the other hand has been in a decent touch whenever she has had an opportunity to bat. She scored 77 runs in the Asia Cup at a good strike rate of 163.82, including a quick-fire 29 in the final. On the back of a 235-run WPL where she struck at almost 154, she also scored a 53 in the solitary innings played against South Africa in the recently concluded series.
As a finisher and wicketkeeper, Richa Ghosh has also enjoyed her recent outings with the bat. Striking at 217, the 2003-born scored 100 runs in the Asia Cup. She also enjoyed her WPL winning campaign with 257 runs in 9 innings, also scoring the historic winning runs in the final against DC.
Another wicketkeeper in the named squad is Yastika Bhatia, however, her participation will be subject to her fitness. She last played for India in April earlier this year after scoring 204 runs in the WPL in 8 innings. The 22-year-old Uma Chetry who is from Assam and has just played only one innings has been named amongst the traveling reserves.
• All Rounder
The spear of the all-rounders’ department, as usual, will be Deepti Sharma who finished the recent Asia Cup as the highest wicket-taker with 10 wickets in 5 matches. In the WPL, she scored 295 runs in 8 innings at a strike rate of 136.57 while also taking 10 wickets in 8 matches. Recently, she also won a game to the London Spirits against the Welsh Fire, striking a Dhoni-esque six on the 98th ball in the Hundred.
The right-arm off-spinner and batter, Sajeevan Sajana will act as an understudy of Deepti in the lower order.
• Spinners
India, who are going with a spin-heavy squad will be traveling with Radha Yadav as the lead spinner alongside the young gun, Shreyanka Patil, and late-bloomer Asha Shobhana in the support cast.
The ever-consistent, Radha Yadav who took 6 wickets in the 5 matches of Asia Cup will be the leader of the spin department. She finished the recent WPL season with impressive numbers of 10 wickets in 9 games at an average of 18.7 followed by a stellar 5-match Bangladesh series where she was the top wicket-taker with 10 wickets.
She was also lethal with her left-arm-orthodox in the tied series against South Africa at home with 6 wickets in 3 appearances.
The participation of Shreyanka Patil, the young star who has caught a lot of eyeballs in the last couple of years will also be subject to her fitness. She was the top-wicket taker of RCB’s WPL winning campaign with 13 wickets in 8 matches. In her 12 T20I games, she has scalped 16 wickets with her best of 3/19 against England.
Leg spinner and a late bloomer, Asha Shobhana who will be playing her first World Cup made her international debut earlier this year after taking impressive 12 wickets in 10 WPL matches including a 5-fer in the tournament.
Tanuja Kanewar, the left-arm spinner who took 10 wickets in 8 WPL matches for Gujarat Titans will travel as a backup spinner in the reserves.
• Medium-Pacers
The pace-battery of the Indian team will consist of the Asian Games hero, Renuka Singh Thakur, Pooja Vastrakar and Arundhati Reddy.
Renuka Thakur, who just took her 50th wicket for India in 47 T20Is, will lead India’s pace bowling upfront. Despite a sub-par WPL season, she returned to the India colors with 4 wickets in 3 matches in the recent Bangladesh series and 7 wickets in 5 Asia Cup matches.
With Renuka, will be, Pooja Vastrakar andArundhati Reddy, the latter took 8 wickets in 9 WPL matches for the runner-ups, Delhi Capitals, and took a 2/28 in the only appearance in the Asia Cup. Vastrakar who returned after an injury against South Africa starred in the series with 8 wickets in 3 matches, including a 4/13 in the final match. She took 4 wickets in the 4 Asia Cup matches.
Saima Thakor, 27, will be traveling as a backup pacer with the squad. She is yet to make her international debut, however, has shown some promise at the domestic level and in WPL for UP Warriorz.
India Women’s Squad For T20 World Cup 2024
Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk)*, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil*, Sajana Sajeevan.
Traveling Reserves: Uma Chetry, Tanuja Kanewar, and Saima Thakor.
Non-Traveling Reserves: Raghvi Bist and Priya Mishra.
