The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently released a new player retainership list for the senior national women’s team, which did not include notable players such as pacer Shikha Pandey and leg-spinner Poonam Yadav.
The BCCI has cited their lack of recent performance in international cricket as the reason for their exclusion from the 17-member list.
While Poonam had a Grade A contract last year, she has not represented India in any format since March 2022. Shikha, who held a Grade C contract in the last cycle, has been in-and-out of the T20I squad and has not played in any ODI matches since 2021.
Wicket-keeper Taniya Bhatia and Arundati Reddy were also left out of the contracts list.