Key takeaways from India's squad announcement for Commonwealth Games

29th July will go down as one of the most glorious days in the history of women's cricket as the Commonwealth Games is all set to commence amid growing fanfare and increased media attention for the multi-sport event. 

In almost a century since the Games were first played in 1930, women's cricket will be making its maiden appearance in a T20 format in Birmingham in about two weeks. 

After finishing as runners-up in the last T20 World Cup held in Australia, India enter the tournament as one of the favourites, especially in this form of the game. 

The Women in Blue are riding high on confidence after their series win against Sri Lanka earlier this month and will be itching to make their mark in Birmingham and rewrite the record books. 

With the Games about to begin later this month, the selection committee announced the squad for the tournament with a mere press release, opening up a plethora of questions revolving around the players missing out and their future with the side. 

🚨 NEWS 🚨: #TeamIndia (Senior Women) squad for Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games announced. #B2022 | @birminghamcg22 pic.twitter.com/lprQenpFJv

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) July 11, 2022

As strange as it may sound, for women's cricket maiden appearance in the iconic event, there ought to be a place for the reasoning behind some of the calls taken by the selectors and the team management. 

Well, it is tough to be a women's cricketer in India. 

With the Women in Blue set to rekindle their rivalry with Australia in the inaugural match of the competition, we dive deep into some of the key talking points from the squad announcement. 

Is it the end of the road for Poonam Yadav?

One of the primary reasons behind India's significant rise in the last World Cup held in Australia, Poonam Yadav, has clearly fallen off the radar of the team management after some lukewarm performances in the last couple of matches. 

The leg spinner was part of the squad for the white-ball series against Sri Lanka but failed to find a place in the playing XI in the six matches across formats. 

While we cannot blame the team management entirely for their lack of faith in the leg spinner, given her recent record in the shortest format is an area of concern. 

In the five innings at the high-voltage event, Poonan scalped 10 wickets at an economy rate of six runs per over and a strike rate of 12, including a four-wicket haul in the tournament opener against arch-rivals Australia in Syndey.

While the tournament highlighted her impact in the Indian bowling unit, things seem to have drastically chance after the pandemic. After a year-long hiatus, the Indian team as they failed to weave her magic, resulting in Team India struggling to break the partnerships in the middle overs. 

In the five innings since 2021, the 30-year-old has managed to pick only three wickets and conceded at an economy rate of 7.1 runs per over and a strike rate of 36. 

And one of the significant reasons for her downfall has been the lack of speed, which over the years, the opposition batters have mastered the art of playing as they wait on the back foot to find vacant spaces in the field. 

To add more, her credentials with the bat and on the field are something that ain't very exciting for the team management, and with over-dependency on one skill set, Poonam is currently finding it difficult to secure her place in the side.  

Team India looking to Harleen Deol as a possible leg-spin option

While we are discussing in detail the leg spinner and her exclusion from the 15-member squad, let us discuss in-depth in regards to a possible option in Harleen Deol that India can groom in the coming years.

The 24-year-old is primarily known for her abilities with the bat and did take the world by storm with her acrobats on the field with a blinder near the boundary cushions against England away from home. 

Although she has bowled many overs for her stateside, Himachal Pradesh, in the domestic circuit, she is not known for her skills with the ball at the international level yet.

In the nine innings, Deol has bowled 18 overs and scalped six wickets at a strike rate of 18 and conceded at an economy rate of 7.8 runs per over. After being in and out of the squad for a major part of her initial career, she is finally returning to the side after plying her trade in just a solitary game against Australia in 2021. 

Does Sneh Rana fit in India's playing XI?

When the squad for the white-ball series against Sri Lanka was announced, the absence of Sneh Rana raised plenty of eyebrows. However, Ramesh Power, the Head Coach of the Indian side, clarified that Sneh was working on her fitness at the National Cricket Academy. 

"Sneh has been rested for this series, and she is in the NCA working on her fitness. There are about 20-25 T20 games, and we want our players fresh for all the series," he said in a pre-departure press conference before the Sri Lankan series. 

Well, it does seem extremely strange for a player to be given a rest unless there is any niggle, considering the women's players play only a handful of games. And if there is a talk about workload management, shouldn't the team management look at giving the players rest after the Commonwealth Games. 

The three T20Is against Sri Lanka were the only matches they could have worked on finalising the combination ahead of the tournament, and India have pretty much a settled look to their playing XI with two all-rounders in Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar. 

With Radha Yadav not performing to her best in the series, would India be tempted to draft in Sneh in the playing XI, or would Harmanpreet Kaur want another away-going bowling option along with Rajeshwari Gakaywad? 

Well, it will be interesting to see on the playing XI they field for the first game.

India bank on Taniya Bhatia's stability ahead of Richa's flamboyance 

In the last couple of seasons, the Women's T20 Challenge unearthed the abilities of Richa Ghosh and showcased her hard-hitting ability. However, her performance in the recent past has been lukewarm, to say the least. 

She was dismissed for a run-a-ball one and two of eight deliveries in the recently concluded Women's T20 Challenge and followed it up with 11 off 15 balls in the first game against Sri Lanka. 

On the other hand, Taniya, who is making her comeback to the side in this format, has been brilliant with her glovework and some steady innings in the middle order in the three matches of the T20 Challenge. 

With Supernovas tottering at 12 for two after being asked to bat first, Taniya walked in at number four and steadied the innings with Harmanpreet Kaur. The wicket-keeper batter scored 36 off 32 deliveries studded with three boundaries to help her side get over the 150-run mark. 

While there ain't any doubt that Taniya has been the best keeper at the moment in India, her recent exploits with the bat have paved her way into the national side.