India women’s cricket team will return to international action for the first time in a year as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squads for the limited-overs series against South Africa women. India is scheduled to play 5 One Day Internationals and 3 Twenty20 Internationals in Lucknow from March 7 to 23.
The ODI series will begin from March 7 while the T20I series will be played from March 20 at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. While Mithali Raj has been backed to lead the ODI side, Harmanpreet Kaur will be in charge of the T20I team.
Ekta Bisht, Anuja Patil, Veda Krishnamurthy, Taniya Bhatia, and Shikha Pandey aren’t part of the squad while C. Pratyusha, Yastika Bhatia, Ayushi Soni, Swetha Verma, Monica Patel, and Simran Dil Bahadur have earned their maiden call-ups.
In the quest to ensure the safety of the players. Cricketers of both sides would be in quarantine and a bio-bubble environment.
The Indian women’s cricket team last played cricket during the Women’s T20 Challenge in November 2020 while their last international match was on March 8, 2020, when they faced Australia in the T20 World Cup final. Australia defeated India in the final of the mega event to secure a fifth title on home soil. The hosts beat India by 85 runs at the MCG on the back of Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney’s sensational batting performances.
India Women’s squad for ODI series:
Mithali Raj (Captain), Smriti Mandhana, D. Hemalatha, Deepti Sharma, Sushma Verma (wicket-keeper), Swetha Verma (wicket-keeper), Radha Yadav, Jemimah Rodrigues, Punam Raut, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Priya Punia, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Mansi Joshi, Poonam Yadav, C. Prathyusha, Monica Patel.
India Women’s T20I squad:
Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Sushma Verma (wicket-keeper), Jemimah Rodrigues, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Nuzhat Parveen (wicket-keeper), Ayushi Soni, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, C. Prathyusha, Simran Dil Bahadur.
India Women vs South Africa Women Full Schedule
ODI series
1st ODI on March 7
2nd ODI on March 9
3rd ODI on March 12
4th ODI on March 14
5th ODI on March 17
T20I series
1st T20I on March 20
2nd T20I on March 21
3rd T20I on March 23