Star batter Jemimah Rodrigues and all-rounder Amanjot Kaur are set to make a comeback in South Africa next month as the BCCI announced the India squad for the multi-format tour on Monday. Meanwhile, off-spinning all-rounder Shreyanka Patil, who was left out of the Zimbabwe T20Is, continues to miss out.
Rodrigues and Kaur has been out of action for several months due to injury. Rodrigues was going through a hamstring injury while Kaur has recovered from the back injury. Both of them recently made a comeback in the senior women's T20 trophy for their respective teams.
Rodrigues is set to lead Mumbai in the knockouts while Kaur led Punjab in the group stages. Now, they are set to play for India again in South Africa. Rodrigues is included in the squad for all three formats while Kaur is only named in the T20I team. The former's last India game was in England in July while Kaur last played for the country in February.
Meanwhile, the surprise exclusion of Patil has once again raised eyebrows. The off-spinner, who took four wickets in the Asian Games including a 2/9 in the final, was left out for Minnu Mani during the Zimbabwe T20Is at home. Minnu did not play a single game and is now not named in any of the squads for the South Africa tour.
And yet, Patil was once again overlooked despite playing a crucial part in Karnataka entering the knockouts of the senior women's Trophy with 13 wickets in six matches, including two fifers. Karnataka will play three Super League matches against Baroda, Delhi and Vidarbha. In the other Super League group, Maharashtra, Mumbai, Andhra and Railways will compete. Top team from each group will enter the final.
As for the India squad, Deepti Sharma has retained her vice-captaincy in ODIs and the lone Test, while Shafali Verma will be Smriti Mandhana's deputy in T20Is. Assam all-rounder Jintimani Kalita, who made her ODI debut recently, has been named in both ODIs and the Test squads.
Test squad: Mandhana [C], Verma, Rawal, Harmanpreet, Rodrigues, Deol, Ghosh [WK], Bhatia [WK], Deepti [VC], Sree Charani, Rana, Gaud, Nandni, Kalita, Satghare.
India’s ODI Squad: Mandhana [C], Verma, Rawal, Harmanpreet, Rodrigues, Deol, Ghosh [WK], Bhatia [WK], Deepti [VC], Sree Charani, Vaishnavi, Gaud, Nandni, Kalita, Satghare.
India’s T20I Squad: Mandhana [C], Verma [VC], Rodrigues, Harmanpreet, Niki, Ghosh [WK], G. Kamalini [WK], Anushka, Deepti, Sree Charani, Rawat, Amanjot, Gaud, Nandni, Renuka, Reddy, Satghare.