Rodrigues, Pandey axed from squad
CHANDIGARH: Be it removing Virat Kohli as 50-over captain or naming the women’s squad for a tour of New Zealand that includes the World Cup, a press release is the Indian cricket board’s preferred way of communication. No press conferences, no questions and lots of speculation.
So Neetu David, chief selector for women, was not around to explain why batter Jemimah Rodrigues and experienced medium-pacer Shikha Pandey missed the cut. And, by extension, why left-handed batter Yastika Bhatia and mediumpacer Renuka Singh Thakur replaced them in the side that will be led by Mithali Raj.
Bhatia, 21, did make a case for selection by backing up fine performances on her debut tour of Australia with a good run in the Women’s Challenger Trophy back home including an 86 off 102 balls in the final which fetched her the Playerof-the-match award.
Rodrigues has been out of form in the 50-over format and was dropped after the tour of England last year. Which is possibly why she was not considered despite doing well in the Hundred in England and the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) in Australia.
“Initially I was surprised not to see the name of a talented player (Rodrigues) in the list. (But) Once she was not going to be preferred for this (50-over) format; it didn’t matter what her recent form in the shortest format had been,” said Anjum Chopra, the former India captain.
But vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur has kept her place even though she has not been in form in ODIS over the past three years. The spark and promise Kaur has shown was for Melbourne Renegades in the WBBL last month where she was player of the series.
At 39, this will be Raj’s fifth World Cup as captain. The pace
attack will be led by Jhulan Goswami, also 39 and in her fifth World Cup. The Indian q u i c k s , P o o j a Va s t r a k a r , Meghna Singh and Thakur had earned praise for their performance in Australia. Thakur, 25, played three T20I matches in Australia replacing the more experienced Pandey.
“The Indian team would be looking to get 10 overs from a frontline bowler and if the bowler can contribute with the bat that would be even better. Shikha had to take her chances in the recent women’s challenger tournament while leading India C. There was a very slim opportunity but it was there for her. Renuka did well and her team won too,” said Chopra.
“The selected team looks good and compact,” she said.
The squad was chosen following a camp in Dehradun last month under coach Ramesh Powar. Rodrigues and Pandey were part of the camp as was Purnima Raut who has also been left out.
India will play five ODIS against New Zealand followed by the World Cup. India will also play a T20I on February 9 in Napier. The ODI series starts from February 11 and ends on February 24.
India play Pakistan in their first World Cup match at Tauranga on March 6.