Australia vs India women: Harmanpreet Kaur to lead 16-member squad; Shafali Varma, Shreyanka Patil dropped; Harleen Deol, Richa Ghosh included

Hyderabad: Harmanpreet Kaur will lead a 16-member squad for the three-match Australia vs India ODI series against Australia in December. Smriti Mandhana has been named Harmanpreet’s deputy.

The 16-member squad sees a slew of changes with opener Shafali Varma, Shreyanka Patil, Uma Chetry, Hemalatha Dayalan and Sayali Satghare not finding a place in the team. The senior women’s selection committee has included Harleen Deol, Richa Ghosh, Minnu Mani, Titas Sadhu and Priya Punia in the squad. The five players are making a comeback into the Indian team after having been left out for the series against New Zealand.

The Australia vs India ODI series will be played at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane on December 5 and 8. The third ODI will be played at the WACA Ground, Perth, on December 11.

The Australia vs India ODI matches are a part of the ICC Women’s Championship.

The omission of Shafali doesn’t come as a surprise, especially after the top-order batter failed to stitch some good scores in the recent past. The 20-year-old has not been in the pink of form and has just scored 108 runs in the last six matches, with a highest of 33.

Shafali was dropped midway during the home ODI series against Australia but the right-handed batter made a comeback against South Africa in June in Bengaluru. However, she couldn’t make the opportunity count as she failed to score a 50 in the format, she was once rated high.

The 20-year-old made her debut three years ago, as a teenager, and took the cricketing world by storm. But she hasn’t made an impact after her unbeaten 71 against Sri Lanka in 2022 and hasn’t scored a half-century since then.

Meanwhile, Harleen Deol comes back into the team after having to sit out for the last two ODI series. The all-rounder last played in the three-match home ODI series against Australia in December in 2023.

Harleen Deol was not a part of the Indian team for the home series against South Africa and New Zealand this year.

Yastika Bhatia and Richa Ghosh are the two wicket keepers in the 16-member squad.

India’s squad for three-match Australia vs India ODI series: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Priya Punia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Yastika Bhatia (wicketkeeper), Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma, Minnu Mani, Priya Mishra, Radha Yadav, Titas Sadhu, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur and Saima Thakor.