15-05-2025
Shafali returns to India squad for England tour
Chandigarh: Swashbuckling opening batter Shafali Verma returned to the national team on Thursday with selectors ending her seven-month exile for the upcoming T20I series in England. The five-match series will be followed by three ODIs with in-form Delhi batter Pratika Rawal keeping Shafali out in the 50-over format.
India will take on England in five T20Is set to be played from June 28 to July 12. The three ODIs will be played on July 16, 19 and 22. The T20I series will begin in Nottingham and the tour ends on July 22 in Chester-le-Street.
In Shafali's absence from the limited-over formats, Uma Chetry and Rawal opened alongside Smriti Mandhana in T20Is and ODIs respectively. While Rawal retained her spot, Chetry has been replaced by Shafali who not only had a successful run in domestic cricket but also excelled for Delhi Capitals in the third edition of Women's Premier League (WPL) where her tally of 304 runs at a strike rate of 152.76 helped DC reach the final.
Shafali was dropped from the Indian team last November after a string of poor performances. Later, she slogged hard in the domestic circuit and emerged as the leading run-getter in the Senior Women's One Day Trophy (527 runs, 152.31 strike rate, 75.29 average) and the Senior Women's One Day Challenger Trophy (414 runs, 145.26 strike rate, 82.80 average) while captaining Haryana.
Meanwhile, Rawal grabbed her chance in the ODIs and has since been a consistent performer. With the ODI World Cup due later this year, it looks like Rawal has been identified to open with Mandhana while Verma gets to play the T20 format. The 21-year-old has 1,203 runs from 15 innings across three different domestic competitions at a strike rate of over 150.
India recently beat Sri Lanka in the final of the tri-nation series which also included South Africa. Veteran all-rounder Sneh Rana's Player of the Series performance in the tri-series has earned her a place in both the ODI and T20I squads. Rana makes it to the India T20 team for the first time since the 2023 Women's T20 World Cup.
Fast-bowler Kashvee Gautam lost her place in the ODI team owing to an injury. Seam-bowling all-rounders Kranti Goud and Sayali Satghare and left-arm spinners N Shree Charani and Shuchi Upadhyay have received their maiden T20I call-ups.
India women have not played T20Is since December when they hosted West Indies at home.
India Women T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Sree Charani, Shuchi Upadhyay, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare.
India Women ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Sree Charani, Shuchi Upadhyay, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare.
