India announce squad for Women's World Cup in New Zealand, Jemimah Rodrigues dropped

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have announced a strong 15-member squad for the upcoming 50-Over Women's World Cup. The showpiece event, which was due to get underway in 2021, will finally begin on March 04 in New Zealand. India had a phenomenal tournament in 2017 as they finished as runners-up. The core of the squad remains intact with Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, and Poonam Yadav in the team.

The five players played a huge part in the team doing well in the showpiece event played in England in 2017. However, Jemimah Rodrigues is not part of the squad. The 21-year-old had a promising start to her career but low returns against South Africa and England in 2021 resulted in the selectors overlooking her. Experienced batter Punam Raut and Veda Krishnamurthy are also not part of the squad. Yastika Bhatia, Meghna Singh, and Renuka Thakur have earned their maiden call-up for the global event.

Bhatia made her ODI debut against Australia and played well in the three ODIs. The southpaw displayed calmness and exuded confidence Down Under. Meanwhile, Meghna Singh and Renuka Thakur are the two options alongside Goswami in the pace bowling lineup. The latter has played three T20Is while the former has played three ODIs and one Test match.

The Women in Blue are due to play a five-match ODI series against New Zealand starting on February 09. The series will be good preparation for India ahead of the World Cup. They kick off their campaign against archrivals Pakistan on March 06.

India Women's squad for the World Cup 2022: Mithali Raj (C), Harmanpreet Kaur (VC), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika, Deepti, Richa Ghosh (WK), Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Rajeshwari, Poonam Yadav.

Standby Players: Sabbhineni Meghana, Ekta Bisht, Simran Dil Bahadur.