The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced a 16-player squad for the 3-match One-Day International (ODI) series against Australia, set to take place from the 5th to the 11th of December 2024. The squad features several unexplained changes as India prepares for their home winter series against the West Indies and Ireland.
Days after their early exit from the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup, India registered a 2-1 series win in a 3-match ODI series against the newly crowned champions, New Zealand, in Ahmedabad. Richa Ghosh, who was unavailable for the series, makes her return to the squad, alongside fit-again Harleen Deol.
Wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh’s return sees Uma Chetry lose her spot, while Yastika Bhatia retains her place after scoring 37, 12, and 35 in the New Zealand series. Currently in Australia, Bhatia has also been a key contributor to the Melbourne Stars in the Women’s Big Bash League.
Fit-again Harleen Deol, who has had a strong start to the 2024-25 domestic season, replaces the out-of-form Dayalan Hemalatha in the squad, marking her first international return since December 2023 after recovering from knee concerns. In a brave yet unsurprising move, the selectors have omitted promising youngster Shafali Verma, who struggled for consistency, scoring only 97 runs in 4 matches at the 2024 T20 World Cup and 56 runs in 3 ODIs against New Zealand.
Priya Punia, in her only ODI against South Africa in August, scored 28 and was omitted from the squad for the New Zealand series. She now replaces opener Shafali Verma for the Australia tour. Notably, Priya was part of the India A squad that toured Australia in August, and though was impressive in a couple of innings, she had a quiet patch in the remainder of the multi-format series.
Sayali Satghare made a notable impression in the same India A tour of Australia and earned a call-up to the India squad for the New Zealand series but didn’t make her international debut and is now replaced by the highly promising quick Titas Sadhu, who’s impressed in domestic cricket, the U19 World Cup, and, her 9 Twenty20 International (T20I) appearances, claiming as many wickets, at an economy rate of 5.44.
Minnu Mani (25), who impressed with a few good starts and 11 wickets in the one-off red-ball game during the India A tour of Australia, returns to the national setup for the first time since September 2023, replacing Shreyanka Patil (22), who was ruled out of the third ODI against New Zealand due to shin splints. Notably, legspinner Asha Sobhana, who had missed the New Zealand series because of injury, and pacer Pooja Vastrakar, who was rested from the series, remain absent.
While there are a couple of surprising omissions, in a positive move, the inexperienced trio of Priya Mishra, Tejal Hasabnis, and Saima Thakor have retained their spots in the team following their India debuts in the series against New Zealand. Saima claimed 4 wickets from 3 innings, while also playing a gritty knock. While Tejal delivered scores of 42 and 15 in her debut series, Priya claimed 3 wickets in 2 ODIs, and the two were also positives for India A on their tour of Australia.
India women’s squad for the Australia tour 2024:
Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Priya Punia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Yastika Bhatia (WK), Richa Ghosh (WK), Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma, Minnu Mani, Priya Mishra, Radha Yadav, Titas Sadhu, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Saima Thakor
Ins: Priya Punia, Harleen Deol, Richa Ghosh (WK), Titas Sadhu, Minnu Mani
Outs: Shafali Verma, Dayalan Hemalatha, Uma Chetry (WK), Sayali Satghare, Shreyanka Patil
The 3-match ODI series is part of the ongoing 2022-23/25 Women’s Championship, with India (3rd) as hosts and Australia (1st) already qualified for next year’s ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.
India’s women tour of Australia 2024, Schedule:
First ODI: Brisbane, December 5
Second ODI: Brisbane, December 8
Third ODI: Perth, December 11
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