Image Credit- BCCI
For the Australia series that begins in Mumbai on
December 28, Saika Ishaque, Shreyanka Patil, Mannat Kashyap, and Titas Sadhu
have been called up for the first time in their ODI careers. Following their
absence from the July tour of Bangladesh due to injuries sustained during that
time, Renuka Singh and Richa Ghosh have also returned to the ODI squad. Ghosh
was benched in favour of Uma Chetry, who has since been excluded from all
games.
India selected the same team that lost 2-1 to England
at home earlier in the month for the three Twenty20 Internationals against
Australia early in the following month.
The ODI team was reorganised primarily to accommodate
the all-rounders and bowling attack, leaving out Priya Punia, Devika Vaidya,
Anjali Sarvani, B Anusha, Meghna Singh, Rashi Kanojiya, and Monica Patel.
The off-spin-bowling all-rounder Patil made history by
being the first Indian player to appear in the Women’s CPL and was one of RCB’s
best players in the inaugural WPL earlier this year. Prior to the T20Is against
England, she was included in the India A squad for the T20 series against
England A, when she made her debut for the country and claimed five wickets in
three games.
For the WPL champion Mumbai Indians, left-arm spinner
Ishaque was another breakout player. He tied for third place in the
tournament’s highest wicket-taker standings. During the England series, she
also made her T20I debut, taking five wickets in three matches. Despite not
getting a game, she was included in the Test squads for the matches against
Australia and England.
After winning their first-ever Test matches against
Australia and England at home, India is riding high. They will now move on to
the shorter formats, fielding regulars like captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti
Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, and
others in both squads.
They will play three One-Day Internationals (ODIs)
against Australia at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on December 28, December 30, and
January 2. The three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) will take place at Navi
Mumbai on January 5, 7, and 9.