India announced an 18-member women squad for a home series which would consist of five ODIs and three T20I matches against South Africa, starting from March 7 in Lucknow.
The ODI team would be captained by Mithali Raj, whereas the T20I squad would be led by Harmanpreet Kaur. Kaur and Smriti would continue to be the deputies in ODIs and T20Is.
Surprisingly, all-rounder Shikha Pandey and wicket-keeper Taniya Bhatia are among those dropped from the squad for the ODI and T20I series against the Proteas.
On the other hand, Sushma Verma made her comeback to both ODI and T20I squad replacing Taniya Bhatia. Verma who had played her ODI in April 2018 and T20I in December 2016 is set to return to the field.
The South Africa women’s team will reach Lucknow on February 27. The teams are likely to play a warm-up game before the ODI series. The Indian women’s cricket team will return to competitive cricket for the first time since the T20 World Cup final played against Australia in Melbourne.
The five ODIs will take place first on March 7, 9, 12, 14 and 17 after which the T20Is will be held on March 20, 21 and 24 at Lucknow’s Bharat Ratna Shree Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana International Stadium.
The only outing for Indian players since the finals in Melbourne was an exhibition Women’s T20 Challenge in Sharjah in November last year. Some Indian players also participated in local club tournaments in Bengaluru earlier this year.
India Women’s squad for ODI series: Mithali Raj (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), D. Hemalatha, Deepti Sharma, Sushma Verma (wicket-keeper), Swetha Verma (wicket-keeper), Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Mansi Joshi, Poonam Yadav, C. Prathyusha, Monica Patel
India Women’s T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Sushma Verma (wicket-keeper), Nuzhat Parveen (wicket-keeper), Ayushi Soni, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, C. Prathyusha, Simran Dil Bahadur
