Shikha Pandey has been shocked and recalled to the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup in South Africa. Pandey has not played for India in over a year, and his last appearance was in October 2021.
The 33-year-old didn’t appear to be in contention to be selected for the marquee event after missing out on a call-up to the recently ended Australian Series, and before that he was a T20 Challenger with the trophy and he was 4 Only played in the match and he took only two wickets. Her participation adds experience to the tempo attacks of her Renuka Thakur, who just debuted last year, and her newcomer, Anjali Sarvani. The rest of the squad is predictable as most of the players who played against Australia at home recently were selected. BCCI also said participation would be conditional on fitness after all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar was ruled out of the Australian T20Is due to injury.
Sneha rana, who didn’t play against Australia, sits alongside Sabhineni Meghana and Meghana Singh. India will start her match against Pakistan on 12 February, after which she will face the West Indies, England and Ireland in her group. Ahead of the tournament, India are playing three series in South Africa which will help them adjust to conditions with their hosts and the West Indies.
Shafari Verma and Richa Ghosh were not available for the try series, which starts on January 19, as they are participating in the U19 Women’s World Cup. As a result, Sushma Verma was added to the squad alongside her Amanjot Kaur. While Kaur is uncapped, Sushma will be in the international game almost two years later if selected. His three reserve players selected for the World Cup will be part of his 18-man squad for the 3 Series.
T20 World Cup Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk) Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Anjali Sarvani, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey
Reserves: Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh
Squad for the tri-series: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Shushma Verma (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Shikha Pandey