Fifteen-year-old Shafali Verma earned her first India call-up as the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced their One-day International and Twenty20 International squads for the upcoming series against South Africa on Thursday.
Veteran Mithali Raj, who recently bid adieu to T20I cricket, will continue to lead the ODI team, where there were hardly any surprise picks. Rookie Priya Punia got another chance to impress at the top of the order but will probably have to compete for a spot with senior pro Punam Raut. Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, Dayalan Hemalatha, Rajeshwari Gayakwad along with all-rounder Deepti Sharma complete the spin battery.
The T20I squad also saw the return of pacer Pooja Vastrakar from a long-term injury. Another quick, Arundhati Reddy also got the nod, while senior player, Veda Krishnamurthy returned after briefly losing her place in the side. Top-order batter Harleen Deol will also get a chance to impress but all eyes will be on big-hitting Verma, who made waves in the inaugural T20 Challenger.
The five ODIs will be played in Surat while the three T20Is will be played in Baroda.
Women’s ODI squad: Mithali Raj (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (v-c), Punam Raut, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wicketkeeper), Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Mansi Joshi, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, D Hemalatha, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Priya Punia.
Squad for first 3 T20Is: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (v-c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wicketkeeper), Poonam Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Veda Krishnamurthy, Harleen Deol, Anuja Patil, Shafali Verma, Mansi Joshi.