Rana readies for ‘third comeback’
CHANDIGARH: All-rounder Sneh Rana had been preparing to travel to Sri Lanka with the India T20 and ODI teams. She had been in good form at the World Cup and while turning out for the Railways in domestic cricket too. On the face of it, there was no reason to keep her out.
But even as she was emotional after Mithali Raj announced her retirement on social media on Wednesday, Rana was stunned to find that her name did not feature in any of the India teams released by the BCCI for the Sri Lanka tour starting June 23.
Rana, who along with Pooja Vastrakar played a vital role for India down the order in the World Cup, took the decision in her stride though.
“I was surprised not to see my name in the India teams,” said Rana. “I do not know what went wrong. I believe I did fine in the World Cup and later on in the women’s T20 domestic tournament while playing for Railways. Nevertheless, selections are not in my hands and I need to look ahead with a positive frame of mind and look for my third comeback.”
Rana’s all-round heroics helped India beat Pakistan and West Indies at the World Cup. The 28-year-old grabbed 10 wickets at an economy rate of 4.24 at the event and was one of the highest wicket-takers for India. The Neetu David-led selection committee has earlier been in the news for making poor decisions and Rana’s omission seems to another addition to the list. The committee was criticised for not including Shafali Verma in the ODI team against South Africa following her superb showing in the 2020
World Cup in Australia and dropping the experienced Shikha Pandey and in-form Jemimah Rodrigues from the World Cup team.
As a result, the Indian team had a dismal outing in the series against New Zealand followed by the World Cup.
Rana, who made her ODI and T20 debut way back in 2014, made a fantastic comeback in the Indian team when she hit unbeaten 80 and bagged four wickets against England on Test debut in Bristol last year to help India draw the game.
“I had toiled hard to make a comeback in the Indian team,” said Rana. “Overcoming injuries and bad form, I remained focused and worked on my fitness goals to get back into form. That’s what I am going to do this time too. This is an off-season so no domestic games. I am going to train hard in my academy in Dehradun and aim to make my second comeback for the Commonwealth Games.”
Rana captained Railways and led from the front last month before turning up for Velocity in the women’s T20 Challenge in Pune. “I value wearing the Indian jersey. I will strive hard to do my best and make another comeback,” she said.