India women’s schedule and squads for the England tour announced

The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced two separate squads, which includes a combined one for the Test and ODI series. Even as Mithali Raj will be in charge of the longer formats, Harmanpreet Kaur has been named as the skipper for the T20Is. The one-day series gets underway on Sunday, June 27 with matches to be played in Bristol, Taunton and Worcester. The only Test is set to start on Wednesday, June 16 at the County Ground in Bristol.

Shikha Pandey and Taniya Bhatia, who both didn’t feature in the home series against South Africa, have found their way back into the scheme of things. Indrani Roy, the uncapped wicketkeeper-batter, has been included in both squads. Left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad, who is recovering from COVID-19, couldn’t find a place in the squads.

Test & ODI squad: Mithali Raj (capt), Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur (VC), Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Indrani Roy (wk), Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav.

T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Indrani Roy (wk), Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Simran Dil Bahadur.

The All-India Senior Women’s Selection Committee on Friday announced the Indian squad for the one-off Test match, ODI & T20 series against England. #TeamIndia

Details ?https://t.co/FviNapoMIp pic.twitter.com/8DP8do1Z67

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) May 14, 2021

Shafali Verma making a mark

Shafali Verma, India’s 17-year-old batting sensation, has earned her maiden ODI call-up for the only Test and upcoming three-match ODI series against England Women. After impressing for the Velocity in the 2019 edition of the Women’s T20 Challenge in Jaipur, the youngster has taken rapid strides. In 22 T20Is, she has scored 617 runs with three half-centuries. She has scored those runs at an average and strike rate of 29.38 and 148.31 respectively.

In the T20 World Cup in Australia last year, she was also a prolific run-scorer for Kaur and Co. Shafali is also set to make her debut in the inaugural edition of The Hundred, where he will be plying her trade for Birmingham Phoenix after replacing Sophie Devine.

Team India’s tour of England (Senior Women) 2021-22