Yastika Bhatia, Meghna Singh and Renuka Singh pipped Jemimah Rodrigues and Shikha Pandey in India’s 18-member squad for the Women’s ODI World Cup.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Thursday announced the squad for the upcoming Women’s ODI World Cup slated to take place in New Zealand in March-April. Experienced pacer Shikha Pandey and promising young batter Jemimah Rodrigues were the two major omissions from the squad.
The 32-year-old Pandey last played an ODI for India against England in July and was a part of the Australia tour but didn’t get a game in the format. Meghna, who was impressive on that tour and uncapped Renuka’s emergence, seemed to have played a role in Pandey’s exclusion.
It appears Rodrigues, who averages 19.70 after 21 ODIs, is pigeonholed as a T20 specialist. Rodrigues lost her place in the ODI team after a poor series in England. She lit up the Hundred league, which helped her regain the T20 spot, but it wasn’t enough to get back into the fifty-over format.
The 21-year-old Yastika Bhatia impressed the management on tour down under with 102 runs from three innings, including the highest of 64 in India’s historic victory that ended Australia’s record match-winning streak.
The BCCI release did not have any explanation for these exclusions while announcing the squad, but it is understood that the pair has been dropped for underwhelming performances in the format in recent times.
Punam Raut, who was a part of both the England and Australia tours, has also been excluded from the squad. Richa Ghosh will continue to be the first choice wicket-keeper for India, with Taniya Bhatia as a backup.
Veteran Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna and Renuka will be India’s pace attack, with Simran Bahadur in the reserves. The spin department will comprise Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Poonam Yadav, with Ekta Bisht in the reserves.
India will kick off their World Cup campaign on March 6 with a clash against Pakistan. Before that, they will have a chance to acclimatize with the conditions in New Zealand through a five-match ODI series and one-off T20I against the hosts.
