India women announce squad for Asia Cup 2022

A day after the Asian Cricket Council announced the schedule of the upcoming edition of the Women's Asia Cup starting from October 1 in Bangladesh, India have named their squad for the marquee event. 

The All-India Women’s Selection Committee has picked a formidable 15-member squad for the competition with Harmanpreet Kaur at the helm and Smriti Mandhana as her deputy. 

The team management have retained the same set of players that were a part of the T20I series against England earlier this week, with Taniyaa Bhatia and Simran Dil Bahadur as the two players who are now on the standby list. 

Kiran Navgire, who made her debut in the first T20I against England, has retained her place in the side along with Hemalatha, who struggled with scores of 10,9 and 0 in the three outings against England.

The team will also be bolstered by the inclusion of Jemimah Rodrigues, who missed the Women's Hundred and the white-ball series against England due to her wrist injury.

The right-handed batter is currently under rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore and is expected to be fit in time for the mega event. 

While India struggled with their batting in the recently concluded series, the onus will rely on Shafali Verma and Mandhana to help the team off to a flying start. The duo, along with Rodrigues, Harmanpreet, and Deepti Sharma, combined with the firepower of Richa Ghosh and Pooja Vastrakar, down the order form a formidable batting unit. 

On the bowling front, Renuka Singh Thakur, Meghna Singh and Vastrakar will shoulder the responsibility of the side in the fast bowling department. The Women in Blue have named a spin-heavy bowling unit with Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Sneh Rana, Radha Yadav and Deepti Sharma in the ranks. 

India will kickstart their campaign against Sri Lanka on October 1 at the SICS ground in Sylhet at 1.30 PM IST. 

India’s squad

Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Sabbineni Meghana, Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Sneh Rana, Dayalan Hemalatha, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Radha Yadav, K.P. Navgire

Standby players

Taniyaa Sapna Bhatia, Simran Dil Bahadur