CHENNAI: As India announced the 15-member squad for the Commonwealth Games late on Monday, there were no surprises with Harmanpreet Kaur is set to lead the team in the event, starting July 29 with the clash against Australia.
From the squad that toured Sri Lanka, the only notable change was the inclusion of all-rounder Sneh Rana, whom head coach Ramesh Powar said was “rested” for the series. Richa Ghosh, Simran Bahadur and Poonam Yadav, who were part of the squad, will now be in the reserves while Harleen Deol and Taniya Bhatia make it to the 15. Shikha Pandey, who was not selected for the Sri Lanka, seemed to be ignored once again.
India are in Group A in the event, along with Australia, Barbados and Pakistan. South Africa, New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka are in Group B, with top two teams from each group progressing to the semifinals.
Going into the event, India are high on confidence, having won the T20Is 2-1 and ODIs 3-0 in Sri Lanka. If they manage to reach the knockouts, which seems likely, India, at the very least would have a comfortable chance in securing a medal. After the early exit in the ODI World Cup, Harmanpreet and Co would want to make a mark in the global event, especially with a T20 World Cup, too, coming up in February 2023.
Squad: Harmanpreet (C), Smriti (VC), Shafali , Meghana, Taniyaa (Wk), Yastika (Wk), Deepti, Rajeshwari , Pooja, Meghna, Renuka, Jemimah, Radha, Harleen, Rana. Standby: Simran, Richa, Poonam.