Star batter Jemimah Rodrigues was on Thursday (January 6) dropped from the 15-member Indian women’s cricket squad announced for the ICC ODI World Cup to be held in New Zealand from March 4 to April 3. Veteran Mithali Raj will lead the side with Harmanpreet Kaur as her deputy. The side also includes veterans Smriti Mandhana, Jhulan Goswami and the young Shafali Verma among others.
However, Rodrigues and all-rounder Shikha Pandey have been ignored from the side due to lack of form. Roderigues failed to hit the double figure mark during the last year in all the international assignments she was a part of. Pandey has been similarly off colour.
The same 14-member squad will also feature in a limited-overs series against New Zealand from February 9 to 24, comprising one T20 International and five ODIs.
NEWS : India Women's squad for ICC Women's World Cup 2022 and New Zealand series announced. #TeamIndia #CWC22 #NZvIND
More Details https://t.co/qdI6A8NBSH pic.twitter.com/rOZ8X7yRbV
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) January 6, 2022
Jemimah had represented Melbourne Renegades in the recently-concluded WBBL and the right-handed batter was in good form, continuing from where she left off in the inaugural edition of the Hundred.
“Yeah, definitely I would look to carry on with the form. Anybody would love to do that. It is more exciting to do it in India colours and that is the ultimate goal to do whatever I can to help the team win and play according to the role that is given to me. I will be working towards it, very excited, looking forward to the next year as it will be a busy one,” Jemimah had told news agency ANI.
Squads:
ICC Women's World Cup 2022 & New Zealand ODIs: Mithali Raj (C), Harmanpreet Kaur (VC), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (WK), Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav.
Standby Players: Sabbhineni Meghana, Ekta Bisht, Simran Dil Bahadur.
One-off T20I against New Zealand: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (WK), Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, S Meghna, Simran Dil Bahadur.
(with agency inputs)
