Mithali Raj to lead Mandhana-powered Team India in Women’s World Cup
Mithali Raj will lead the 15-member contingent for the Women’s World Cup to be held in England, commencing on June 24. Indian star opener Smriti Mandhana, who has been out of action since January with a knee injury sustained during the Women's Big Bash League, has returned to the squad.
India qualified for the tournament after finishing as the winners of the Qualifier events for the ICC Women’s World Cup, held in Sri Lanka earlier this year, by beating South Africa in the final. India will look forward to shrugging off the disappointment of the 2013 World Cup campaign, in which, India finished at the seventh position, just above Pakistan. Â
For the tournament, Mandhana is the only change from the squad currently playing the Women’s Quadrangular Series in South Africa, with all-rounder Devika Vaidya missing out after picking up an injury during a practice match.
Poonam Raut has retained her place in the side after her eye-catching performance in the quadrangular series on her comeback. Earlier, she helped Railways retain the domestic limited-overs title after finishing second among the top run-getters in the inter-state tournament with 273 runs in seven matches at an average of 68.50. She also scored an aggregate of 346 runs at an average of 86.50 in four three-day inter-zonal matches.
In the bowling front, Jhulan Goswami, who recently became the leading wicket-taker in Women’s ODIs, will spearhead the pace attack that also has youngsters Shikha Pandey and Mansi Joshi. Pandey has had good returns in South Africa so far with 13 wickets to her name, including a fifer in the warm-up against Zimbabwe.
Nuzhat
India will kickstart their campaign against England on June 24, while New Zealand
India Women squad: Mithali Raj (capt), Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Veda Krishnamurthy, Mona Meshram, Poonam Raut, Deepti Sharma, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Ekta Bisht, Sushma Verma, Mansi Joshi, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Nuzhat