Batter Jemimah Rodrigues and pace bowler Shikha Pandey were dropped from the squad. Pandey has so far played 55 ODIs and picked up 75 wickets at an average of 21.9, while Rodrigues has 394 runs to her name in 21 ODIs.
Mithali Raj will captain the Indian women side with Harmanpreet Kaur as her deputy. India will play one-off T20I and five ODIs against New Zealand before the global showpiece event, where India’s schedule begins from March 6 against arch-rivals Pakistan in Tauranga.
India have gone with some young quicks in the form of Meghana Singh and Renuka Singh – both made their international debut in Australia last year. While Meghana has featured in three ODIs, Renuka remains uncapped in the 50-over format.
“The All-India Women’s Selection Committee on Wednesday picked the squad for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022. Team India play their first World Cup fixture against Pakistan on March 6, 2022, at the Bay Oval, Tauranga. The squad will also feature in the 5-match ODI series against New Zealand starting from February 11, 2022,” read the BCCI statement.
India squad for New Zealand ODIs and Women’s World Cup:
Mithali Raj (Captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav.
India squad for one-off T20I:
Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, S. Meghna, Simran Dil Bahadur.
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