Hyderabad: India women have announced a 16-member squad for the three-match ODI series against Australia and Shafali Verma has been dropped from the team due to poor form. Richa Ghosh has returned to the fold after missing out on the home series against New Zealand due to board exams.
Four players - Priya Punia, Harleen Deol, Minu Mani and Titas Sadhu have earned a call-up. The three ODIs will be played in Brisbane and Perth on December 5, 8 and 11.
A look at #TeamIndia's ODI squad for the upcoming tour of Australia 👌👌#AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/q0LRy53sSD
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) November 19, 2024
Shafali’s form in 50-over cricket has been a concern for the Indian team as she has managed to score just 108 runs at an average of 18 across six matches this year. December 2023 was the last time she was excluded from the white-ball squad against Australia and the pair of Yastika Bhatia and Smriti Mandhana opened the innings in her absence.
Punia, who will audition for a spot in the middle order has played three ODIs since 2023. She made a comeback to the national squad in June this year thanks to impressive performances in the domestic circuit.
D Hemalatha and off-spinner Shreyanka Patil have not found a place in the team. Legspiner Asha Shobhana is unavailable as she is recovering from injury while Pooja Vastrakar is also absent from the squad.
The Indian team will head into the three-match series against Australia on the back of a 2-1 series win against New Zealand. Australia last faced Bangladesh in the 50-over cricket and beat them by 2-1 as well.
India's squad for ODIs against Australia: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana, Priya Punia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk), Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma, Minnu Mani, Priya Mishra, Radha Yadav, Titas Sadhu, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur and Saima Thakor.
