Mumbai, Aug 19: Fit-again pacer Renuka Singh Thakur was on Tuesday included in India’s squad for the Women’s ODI World Cup at home along with top-order batter Pratika Rawal but the big-hitting Shafali Verma was left out.
The squad will be led by Harmanpreet Kaur with Smriti Mandhana, who was also present at the selection meeting here at the BCCI headquarters, as her deputy in the ICC event which begins on September 30.
The selectors also announced the squad for the three ODIs against Australia which precedes the World Cup with only one change in both the sides. The series begins on September 14.
Rawal, who has done exceptionally well in 14 ODIs, was chosen ahead of hard-hitting opener Shafali as the latter was excluded from both, with chairperson of selectors Neetu David saying the right-hander remains in their focus.
“Shafali played the Australia A series. She’s in the system, it is not like that she’s not. We’ve got our eyes on her. Hope she plays a lot more and garners experience, it’ll help serve India in the 50-overs format in the future. We want a long career from Shafali,” Neetu said.
All-rounder Amanjot Kaur has been given additional time to recover from her unspecified injury as she remains at the Centre of Excellence ahead of the World Cup, and in her place Sayali Satghare was named in the squad to face Australia as the solitary change in the two squads.
“She’s one of the important players, she’s at (the) COE, working on a few small niggles. We’ve rested her for the Australia series so that she can fully be available for the World Cup,” skipper Harmanpreet said.
Renuka has been out of action since March and missed the ODI tri-series in Sri Lanka followed by the tour of England, but the right-arm pacer is back in the side to lead the attack.
“Renuka has been a precious player for us. She had (some) niggles and been out of the game, but is now available. She is (one of) our main players. This is a main event and it is great that she is a part of the team,” Neetu said.
Besides Renuka, India have the young seamer Kranti Goud and Arundhati Reddy in the pace attack, which could also feature Amanjot.
It is a largely settled squad which has been on a winning spree, and the selectors also stuck with young spinner Shree Charani, who grabbed 10 wickets in five T20Is against England to make a strong mark.
Charani made her international debut only in April this year and has played eight ODIs and five T20Is since.
Goud, whose aggression and attitude has impressed skipper Harmanpreet, took six wickets in the third ODI against England to tilt the result of the series in India’s favour.
On expected lines, the India squad is spin-heavy with Charani teaming up with senior pros Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana and Radha Yadav in the department which would be expected to do the heavy lifting for the home team.
“Spinners have always done well for the team even when we played in England, which is why we kept (most of them) in the playing XI. This is the best team we can have (for WC),” Harmanpreet said. (PTI)
