The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the India Women squad for the upcoming ICC Women’s World Cup 2022. The tournament is set to get underway on 4 March 2022 at the Bay Oval in Tauranga, with the hosts New Zealand playing West Indies. The final is scheduled to play on April 3.
The squad saw a couple of surprise exclusions in the form of Shikha Pandey and Jemimah Rodrigues. Both of them were in superlative form in the recent past and there were no explanations on why they were part of the ICC Women’s World Cup squad.
#TeamIndia squad for ICC Women's World Cup 2022 & New Zealand ODIs:
Mithali Raj (C), Harmanpreet Kaur (VC), Smriti, Shafali, Yastika, Deepti, Richa Ghosh (WK), Sneh Rana, Jhulan, Pooja, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya (WK), Rajeshwari, Poonam. #CWC22 #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/UvvDuAp4Jg
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) January 6, 2022
The squad will be led by veteran Mithali Raj with all-rounder Harmanpreet Kaur working as his deputy. A lot will depend on how Harmanpreet holds the stead in the middle-order. She has been in spectacular form in the Women’s Big Bash League and will hope to replicate the same in the India jersey.
Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma have been picked as openers while young Yastika Bhatiya will be the third opener. Jhulan Goswami, who is playing her last World Cup will lead the pace attack alongside Pooja Vastrakar and Meghna Singh.
S. Meghna, Ekta Bisht, Simran Dil Bahadur have been picked up as standby players.
India will begin their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on March 5 in Hamilton.
India squad for ICC Women’s World Cup 2022: Mithali Raj (C), Harmanpreet Kaur (VC), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (WK), Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Rajeshwari Gaykawad, Poonam Yadav.
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