Shikha Pandey’s last appearance for India came in October 2021
Shikha Pandey has been handed a shock recall to the Indian squad for the upcoming T20 WC in South Africa. Pandey has not featured for India in more than a year with her last appearance coming in October 2021.
The 33-year-old didn’t appear to be in contention to get picked for the marquee event after not getting a call-up for the recently-concluded Australia series. Prior to that in the T20 Challenger Trophy, she played four games and picked up only two wickets. Her inclusion now adds experience to the pace attack that has Renuka Thakur, who made her debut only last year and newcomer Anjali Sarvani.
The rest of the squad is on predictable lines as most of the players who recently featured against Australia at home have been selected. The BCCI has also notified that allrounder Pooja Vastrakar’s inclusion will be subject to fitness after she was ruled out of the Australia T20Is with an injury.
Sneh Rana, who didn’t feature against Australia is named in the reserves alongside Sabbhineni Meghana and Meghna Singh. India will begin their campaign on February 12 against Pakistan before taking on West Indies, England and Ireland in their group. Ahead of the tournament, India will play a tri-series in South Africa that will help them acclimatise to the conditions, featuring the hosts and West Indies.
With the tri-series kickstarting on January 19, Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh were not available due to their participation in the Under-19 Women’s World Cup. As a result, Sushma Verma has been added to the squad alongside Amanjot Kaur. While Kaur is uncapped, Sushma will play an international fixture almost after two years if selected. The three reserves picked for the World Cup will be a part of the 18-member squad for the tri-series.
T20 WC Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk) Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Anjali Sarvani, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey
Reserves: Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Meghna Singh
Squad for the tri-series: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Devika Vaidya, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Radha Yadav, Renuka Thakur, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Shushma Verma (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, Sabbhineni Meghana, Sneh Rana, Shikha Pandey
