Assam wicketkeeper-batter Uma Chetry was the lone player left out of the 14 that represented the country in the women’s Asia Cup in July as the BCCI on Tuesday recalled Yastika Bhatia while unveiling a familiar-looking squad for the women’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the UAE.

Chetry has been named as one of the travelling reserves for the tournament, with Bhatia’s inclusion subject to fitness, and so is Shreyanka Patil’s, after she suffered a fractured finger in her left hand during an Asia Cup game against Pakistan.

Advertisement

Bhatia, the wicketkeeper-batter, was Mumbai Indians’ third-highest run-scorer in WPL 2024 with 204 runs in eight outings. She played the first T20I against Bangladesh in Sylhet in April but has been out of action since. She is currently recuperating at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru for an injury in her left knee.

Along with Chetry, Tanuja Kanwar, who replaced Patil in the India squad for the Asia Cup, has also been named among the travelling reserves. Fast bowler Saima Thakor is the third travelling reserve for the tournament.

Batter Raghvi Bist and leg spinner Priya Mishra, who were both part of the India A squad that travelled to Australia recently, have been named as non-travelling reserves.

India will go into the T20 World Cup under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Kaur, with Smriti Mandhana the vice-captain. Along with the two, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma will form the core of the Indian batting.

Renuka Singh will lead the fast-bowling unit alongside Pooja Vastrakar. Deepti, Radha Yadav and Patil are the main spinners.

India are placed in Group A at the World Cup along with Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and are targeting their first women’s T20 World Cup title.

The tournament was originally set to be played in Bangladesh, but was shifted out to the UAE last week following unrest in the South Asian nation, and a number of countries issuing travel advisories to their citizens against travelling to the country.

The tournament gets underway on October 3 in Sharjah with the final slotted for October 20 in Dubai.

India will begin their campaign against New Zealand in Dubai on October 4 in an evening game and will play Pakistan on October 6 at the same venue.

India squad for Women’s T20 World Cup

Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Yastika Bhatia* (wk), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, D Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil*, Sajeevan Sajana

Travelling reserves: Tanuja Kanwar, Uma Chetry, Saima Thakor

Non-travelling reserves: Raghvi Bist, Priya Mishra