Renuka Singh Thakur, the talented fast bowler from India, has unfortunately not made it into the team for the upcoming tri-nation series against Sri Lanka and South Africa. This series is happening between April 27 and May 11 in Colombo, and it’s a crucial lead-up to the Women’s ODI World Cup that will be held in India shortly after.
Harmanpreet Kaur will captain the Indian team, with Smriti Mandhana stepping in as her second-in-command. The squad will kick things off with their first match against the home team, Sri Lanka, on Sunday, April 27. Following that, they’ll face South Africa on April 29 and have a rematch with Sri Lanka on May 4 before wrapping up the series against South Africa again on May 7. The final match of the series is slated for Sunday, May 11.
In the latest team announcement, Richa Ghosh and Yastika Bhatia have secured their spots as the two wicketkeepers. One exciting addition to the squad is Shuchi Upadhyay, a left-arm spinner hailing from Madhya Pradesh, who really made a name for herself as the Player of the Series in the 2024-25 Senior Women’s One-Day Trophy. She took an impressive 18 wickets throughout the tournament while keeping her economy rate at 3.5, which is quite remarkable. One of her standout moments was a five-wicket haul against Mumbai in the semifinals, where she finished with incredible figures: 10 overs, 48 runs, and 5 wickets.
Along with Shuchi, Sree Charani, another left-arm spinner from Andhra Pradesh, is also stepping onto the squad. She played a couple of games for the Delhi Capitals during the recent Women’s Premier League and showed her skills by taking three wickets in a match where Andhra put Sikkim on the back foot. Charani wrapped that game up with very tidy numbers – 6 overs, just 13 runs, and 3 wickets.
Kashvee Gautam, a medium-pacer from Chandigarh, is another name that the selectors have included. She had a decent run with the Gujarat Giants in the WPL, claiming 11 wickets over the course of nine matches while maintaining an economy rate of 6.45, which isn’t too shabby.
It’s worth noting that Renuka won’t be the only player missing out; Titas Sadhu, a right-arm pacer, is also sidelined due to injury for this series. A bit surprising is Shafali Verma’s absence from the lineup after her impressive performance in the WPL, where she racked up 304 runs in nine matches, boasting a strike rate of 152.76.
In terms of changes from the previous ODI series against Ireland, wicketkeeper Uma Chetry, along with allrounders Raghvi Bist and Sayali Satghare, will not be in the current squad.
Here’s the final lineup for India: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), Yastika Bhatia (wicketkeeper), Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Kashvee Gautam, Sneh Rana, Arundhati Reddy, Tejal Hasabnis, Sree Charani, and Shuchi Upadhyay. It’s shaping up to be an exciting series for the Indian women’s cricket team!
