BCCI Names Women's Team for Bangladesh Tour: Priya Punia Returns, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh Left Out

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Sunday announced the squads for the upcoming tour of Bangladesh, starting July 9. Under the leadership of Harmanpreet Kaur, the women in blue will play 3 ODIs and ad many T20Is with all six matches scheduled to be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.

Top-order batter Priya Punia returns to the ODIs after a hiatus of two years. On the other hand, right-arm pacer Renuka Singh and wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh were left out. Young off-spinner Shreyanka Patil, who produced an impactful performance at the recently concluded emerging Asia Cup in Hong Kong, also failed to grab a spot.

Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the side with Smriti Mandhana as her deputy. But it is surprising to see the omission of wicket-keeper batter Ghosh and Patil, who scalped nine wickets in India’s title triumph in the ACC Women’s Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Hong Kong last month.

The reason for Ghosh’s omission is not clear, neither anyone can gauge the reason behind Patil’s exclusion from making her debut in the senior side despite her extraordinary performances in Hong Kong.

As reported by news agency PTI, Renuka is not part of the squad for the entire series due to an injury. There are two wicketkeepers in the squad in Yastika Bhatia and Uma Chetry.

Spin all-rounder Sneh Rana is also not part of the T20 squad but has found a place in the ODI team, while S Meghana is there in the shortest format but not in the 50-over squad.

India’s T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Devika Vaidya, Uma Chetry (wk), Amanjot Kaur, S. Meghana, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Monica Patel, Rashi Kanojiya, Anusha Bareddy, Minnu Mani.

India’s ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Deepti Sharma, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Devika Vaidya, Uma Chetry (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Priya Punia, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Monica Patel, Rashi Kanojiya, Anusha Bareddy, Sneh Rana.