Harmanpreet Kaur to lead Indian Women's team in Commonwealth Games

Mumbai, July 11, 2022

Seasoned batter Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the Indian women's team in the Commonwealth Games 2022 beginnning in Birmingham on July 28, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Monday.

Opener Smriti Mandhana will be the vice-captain of the 15-member squad, a press release from the BCCI said.

The team was picked by the Board's All-India Women’s Selection Committee which met on Monday.

This will be the first time that Women’s T20 International will be featured in the prestigious multi-sport event.

India is in Group A with Australia, Barbados, and Pakistan, while Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand, and South Africa are placed in Group B.

The top two teams from the respective pools will progress to the semi-finals. India is scheduled to play three games in the league stage of the tournament starting July 29.

Besides Harman and Smriti, other regulars like opener Shafali Verma, spinners Sneh Rana and Rajeshwari Gayakwad, all-rounders Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar and wicketkeeper-batter Taniya Bhatia have been included in the squad.

Upcoming bowler Meghna Singh who had some great outings in the recently-concluded away series with Sri Lanka coming in as a substitute bowler, has also been retained.

Jemimah Rodrigues, who was dropped for the Women's World Cup in New Zealand earlier this year, before making a comeback in the just-concluded ODI series against Sri Lanka, is also in the side. Playing her first international match since October 2021, Jemimah scored a crucial 36 not out off 27 balls against Sri Lanka in the first T20I in Dambulla to help India start their tour with a win.

The squad:

Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, S. Meghana, Taniyaa Sapna Bhatia (Wk), Yastika Bhatia (Wk), Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Radha Yadav, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana.

Standby: Simran Dil Bahadur, Richa Ghosh, Poonam Yadav.

India fixtures:

29th July: vs Australia, at Edgbaston

31st July: vs Pakistan, at Edgbaston

3rd August: vs Barbados, at Edgbaston.

(With inputs from IANS)

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