New Delhi:
After taking an unassailable lead in three-match ODI series, India team will be playing as many T20 Internationals against England. And as the format gets shorten, the requirement for power hitter rises. With this, India has recalled Veda Krishnamurthy for the T20 series, which is scheduled to start on March 4 in Guwahati.
Veda’s last T20 appearance came in the World T20 last year where she registered single-digit scores in all five encounters she played. Her disappointing performance led her out of the contention from the ODI setup for a while now.
Meanwhile, India will continue to miss the services of Harmanpreet Kaur, who recovering from her ankle injury at the NCA. In Harmanpreet's absence, Smriti Mandhana will lead the national side for the first time.
Apart from Veda, there are three more additions to the squad with Komal Zanzad, Bharti Fulmali, and Harleen Deol being included in place of Dayalan Hemalatha, Mansi Joshi and Priya Punia, who were all a part of the team in India's previous T20 assignment in New Zealand.
20-year-old Harleen received her ODI cap in the ongoing series against England, where she made 2 in her only appearance. Batter Bharti and left-arm seamer Komal, who are both uncapped, have been included after playing against England for the Board President's XI in the warm-up clash last week. The second and third T20I will also be played at the same venue on March 7 and 10 respectively.
Here’s the Squad: Smriti Mandhana (C), Mithali Raj, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Bharti Fulmali, Anuja Patil, Shikha Pandey, Komal Zanzad, Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Veda Krishnamurthy, Harleen Deol
