In the absence of Harmanpreet, opener Smriti Mandhana is going to lead the team. Spin-bowling all-rounder Deepti Sharma will be the vice-captain for the series. Along with that, Shafali Varma continues to face the snub as youngster Pratika Rawal has impressed the selectors during her debut in the ODI series against West Indies.

The ODI matches will be played on January 10, 12 and 15, and all the matches will be played at the Niranjan Stadium in Rajkot.

India’s squad for the ODI series:
Smriti Mandhana (c), Deepti Sharma (vc), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Uma Chetry (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk), Tejal Hasabnis, Raghvi Bist, Minnu Mani, Priya Mishra, Tanuja Kanwer, Titas Sadhu, Saima Thakor, Sayali Satghare

The post BCCI announces India’s ODI squad for three-match series; Dropped Star pacer and the Captain appeared first on Cricket Country.

DC also managed to take in Scottish star wicketkeeper Sarah Bryce for Rs. 10 lakh. They also successfully bought bright Indian talents Nandini Kashyap, N Charani, and Niki Prasad. Among these 4 players, N Charani came out as the most expensive player, as the franchise bought her for a whopping sum of Rs. 55 lakh.

Delhi Capitals had retained 14 players before the auction and had a budget of Rs. 2.50 crore. As the franchise bought their players strategically, DC will aim to solidify their squad and tackle the challenge of WPL title.

DC had earlier retained their important part of the team, including captain Meg Lanning, Jemimah Rodriguez, and Shafali Verma. As the team is balanced in their lineup, they are well-positioned to strengthen their squad through this auction even more.

Players bought by DC in WPL 2025 Auction:
Nandini Kashyap (IND) – Rs. 10 lakh
N. Charani (IND) – Rs. 55 lakh
Sarah Bryce (SCO) – Rs. 10 lakh
Niki Prasad (IND) – Rs. 10 lakh

DC Full squad for WPL 2025:
Alice Capsey, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Jess Jonassen, Marizanne Kapp, Meg Lanning (c), Minnu Mani, Radha Yadav, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sneha Deepthi, Taniyaa Bhatia, Titas Sadhu, Annabel Sutherland, Nandini Kashyap (Rs. 10 lakh), N. Charani (Rs. 55 lakh), Sarah Bryce (Rs. 10 lakh), Niki Prasad (Rs. 10 lakh)

The post Delhi Capitals WPL 2025 Auction: Scottish wicketkeeper taken with 3 other players, Check Full squad appeared first on Cricket Country.

Shafali has scored just 108 runs in six matches this year with 33 being the highest. She was also dropped last December midway during the home ODI series against Australia on the basis of her poor run of form.

Shafali broke into India’s ODI team back in 2021, however her last half-century in the format came against Sri Lanka in July 2022 when she scored an unbeaten 71 in Pallekele.

The likes of Uma Chetry, Dayalan Hemalatha, Shreyanka Patil and Sayali Satghare were also left out of the squad for the Australia series despite featuring in India’s 2-1 series triumph against New Zealand last month.

The first 2 ODIs of the Australia series will be played at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane on December 5 and 8 before the action shifts to WACA Ground, Perth on December 11 for the final match of the series.

India’s squad for three-match ODI series: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana, Priya Punia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Yastika Bhatia (WK), Richa Ghosh (WK), Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma, Minnu Mani, Priya Mishra, Radha Yadav, Titas Sadhu, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Saima Thakor

The post Indian selectors make bold move, drop star batter for Australia ODI series appeared first on Cricket Country.

With Australia marching into the semifinals undefeated, the defeat meant India will now have to wait for the outcome of third-placed New Zealand’s match against Pakistan on Monday.

A win for New Zealand will see them leapfrog India and finish at the second spot. India may currently have a better Net Run Rate but have the same points (4).

Renuka Singh Thakur (2/24) and Deepti Sharma (2/28) played pivotal roles in the bowling department, but Australia posted 151 for 8 after opting to bat.

While Renuka struck twice early on, Deepti grabbed the crucial wickets of Grace Harris (40) and Ellyse Perry (32) in later stages.

However, contributions from Harris, Perry, stand-in skipper Tahlia Mcgrath (32) and an important knock of 15 runs from 9 deliveries by Phoebe Litchfield guided Australia over the 150-run mark.

Shafali Verma gave India a solid start, however wasn’t able to convert her inning into a big one and departed after scoring 20 runs off 13 deliveries. Smriti Mandhana on the other hand, played a disappointing knock of 6 runs off 12 balls before getting dismissed.

India was bolstered by Harmanpreet’s fifty (54*) and her 63-run stand for the fourth wicket with Deepti Sharma (29), but they crumbled under pressure to be restricted to 142/9 in 20 overs.

With 28 needed off the last 2 overs, India took 14 off the penultimate over. Needing 14 runs from the last over, they lost as many as 4 wickets to concede the game to Australia, as Harmanpreet was stranded on the other end.

India paid the price for sloppy fielding and also leaving it too late in run chase. Only 2 fours were hit between 7.4 and the end of 14th over as Harmanpreet hit her first boundary on her 15th ball. The Women in Blue only have themselves to blame for this defeat.

The post Harmanpreet’s fifty goes in vain as Australia triumph over India with 9-run victory appeared first on Cricket Country.

India will face defending champions Australia on October 13, and even a victory might not guarantee them a spot in the last four. Indian opener Shafali Verma said that the team is well aware of the NRR situation.

“We all know that net run rate is going on and we keep playing it. And I think if you are playing in the Indian team, you don’t need to tell us that you’re below the NRR. Because everyone is very mature and everyone is seeing everything. So, I think it’s not something to say. But of course, we have the NRR in our minds. And we’ll keep a focus on it,” Shafali said as quoted by the ICC

The post Shafali Verma before Australia clash to qualify for Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 semifinals appeared first on Cricket Country.

The 98-run stand between Shafali Verma (43) and Smriti (50) set the tone for the innings after India opted to bat at the Dubai International Stadium. Harmanpreet (52*) then got welcome runs in the death overs to push India past 170, the highest total of the competition so far.

Smriti, who had struggled in the tournament up till now due to the slow nature of pitches, found it tough initially before getting into the groove. Shafali coming up with regular boundaries at the other end helped Smriti settle down.

Harmanpreet was India’s star performer in the match

Both openers were dismissed off successive balls in the 13th over, bringing Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet into the middle. Harmanpreet, whose consistency has been questioned time and time again, showed that she remains India’s most belligerent batter. The Indian skipper’s knock of 52 comprised of 8 boundaries and a six.

Sri Lanka, who had got the better of India in the Asia Cup, could never really get going in the run chase and were all out for 90 in 19.5 overs. It was Sri Lanka’s third loss in as many games, effectively putting them out of the semifinals race.

Sri Lanka struggled against Indian bowlers from the get-go

Pacer Renuka Singh Thakur struck on the very first ball of the innings with substitute Radha Yadav taking a stunning catch to get rid of Vishmi Gunaratne.

Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapattu was the next one to depart as Shreyanka Patil had her caught at first slip for a classical off-spinner’s dismissal.

Sri Lanka were reduced to six for three when Harshitha Samrawickrama went for a flashy drive against Renuka but ended up nicking it to the wicket-keeper. Leg-spinner Asha Sobhana and pacer Arundhati Reddy then also joined the party and took 3 wickets each to increase the victory margin for their team.

India remain in contention to qualify for the semi-finals

With their second win in three games, India remain in the hunt for a last four spot from Group A. The loss to New Zealand had put a severe dent to India’s net run rate and they needed a big win to make amends, something they managed on Wednesday.

It was also India’s biggest margin of victory in the tournament history, pushing their run rate to positive from negative. India’s last group game is against the mighty Australia who definitely won’t be as easy to beat as Sri Lanka.

The post Harmanpreet and Asha power India to massive 82-run victory over Sri Lanka appeared first on Cricket Country.

before the clash against Sri Lanka, former Indian cricketer-turned-commentator Sanjay Manjrekar gave an advice to both the openers regarding how to make numbers on Dubai’s slow pitches.
He told them to focus on strike rotation and not search for boundaries as it leads to pressure.

“The batting has been slightly disappointing. I feel the fans will be slightly disappointed with the way they have batted. The batting was very bad against New Zealand. The problem is that the pitch in Dubai does not suit Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana,” he said during an interaction on Star Sports.

“Mithali Raj mentioned in the pitch report that it will have spongy bounce, so the ball comes slightly slower. That’s not an ideal surface for Shafali Verma and Mandhana because they want pace and score through boundaries. Shafali Verma scored a few runs but she shouldn’t think only about fours and sixes in the first five or six overs. This applies to Smriti Mandhana as well,” he added.

The post Sanjay Manjrekar’s Advice for Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma to score big Numbers in Women’s T20 World Cup appeared first on Cricket Country.

Harmanpreet Kaul is the skipper and will be assisted by Smriti Mandhana as the vice-captain for the ICC tournament. Mandhanais expected to open the batting alongside Shafali Verma. Another top-order batting option is Dayalan Hemalatha.

Apart from them, the likes of Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, and Richa Ghosh will boost a formidable batting line-up while Richa Ghosh is the designated keeper in the squad along with Yastika Bhatia.

Renuka Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Asha Sobhana, Sajana Sajeevan, and Shreyanka Patil are among the bowling options.

The likes of Uma Chetry, Tanuja Kanwer and Saima Thakor will also be travelling with the Indian team as reserves.

The tournament will begin from October 3 and will conclude on October 20.

Indian squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (WK), Yastika Bhatia (WK), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil, Sajana Sajeevan

The post BCCI announces Indian squad for upcoming Women’s T20 World Cup appeared first on Cricket Country.

Smriti who is also India’s vice-captain, won the ICC award back in June. Her performance was brilliant in the Women’s Asia Cup where she scored 200 runs and in the month of July, she scored a total of 273 runs. Smriti also shined in the Test match against South Africa where she scored her career-best score of 149. Along with fellow nominee Shafali Verma, she formed a 292-run opening stand which set the record for the highest-ever partnership for the first wicket in Women’s Tests.

On the other hand, Shafali earned a nomination after scoring 229 Test runs and 245 T20I runs in July, 2024. During her record-breaking opening stand with Smriti, Shafali became only the second Indian woman to score a double-century after Mithali Raj. She also set the record for the fastest double-century scored in Women’s Tests, doing so in 194 balls.

Meanwhile, Chamari enjoyed a career-defining moment when she captained Sri Lanka to their first-ever Women’s Asia Cup triumph in July. The left-handed batter was the highest run-scorer of the tournament with 304 runs. She played various impressive knocks in the tournament like the unbeaten 119 against Malaysia and half-centuries against both Pakistan and India in the semi-final and final respectively. 

The post Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana in contention to win ICC Women’s Player of the Month award appeared first on Cricket Country.

After captain Harmanpreet Kaur elected to bat, Mandhana (60, 47b, 10×4), Jemimah Rodrigues (29, 16 balls, 3×4, 1×6), and Richa Ghosh (30, 14 balls, 4×4, 1×6) led the reigning champions India in a close battle against a multitude of Lankan spinners.

Actually, Udeshika Prabodhani was the sole pacer on the home team; all other bowlers were slow-ball players.

In fact, the sluggish pitch was well-utilized by the Lankan bowlers, who frequently strangled the ordinarily free-flowing Indian hitters.

With her conditions-defying half-century, Smirti Mandhana propelled India to a fiThe problems of Shafali Verma (16, 19 balls), who struggled to timing her shots, made it clear.

Harshitha Samarawickrama put Mandhana down at covers after a weak chip off spinner Kavisha Dilhari gave her a huge slice of luck early in the session.

With some stunning blows, particularly against Prabodhani, the left-hander made the hosts pay for their oversight as India reached 44 for no loss in the sixth over.

However, Verma was pinned on her pads while attempting to adjust the on-side, and she soon lost consciousness before Dilhari.

The ball was not exactly coming on to her bat, and the Indian vice-captain frequently had to make room for herself or slide across the stumps to find the ropes.

Although Mandhana overcame the deck’s slowness, Harmanpreet and Uma Chetry were devoured, with Uma Chetry moving up to the No. 3 spot.

India needed a move on when they were 87 for three in the 12th over, and they got one from an aggressive Rodrigues and Mandhana, who scored 41 runs off 25 balls for the fourth wicket.

But when Mandhana was removed and Rodrigues was run out, India was reduced to 133 for five in 16.5 overs.

During his usual quick innings, Ghosh hit a huge six from Dilhari over the mid-wicket with a slog sweep.

Ghosh milked 31 runs for the vital sixth wicket stand with Pooja Vastrakar, which helped India beyond 160 runs, a total that may need a very valiant chase from the Lankans to surpass.

The post Mandhana’s Half-Century Powers India to 165/6 in Women’s Asia Cup Final appeared first on Cricket Country.