The 12th edition of the ICC Women's ODI World Cup is being hosted by New Zealand and starts on 4 March with the Final on 3 April. India have Mithali Raj leading the squad with Harmanpreet Kaur being named her deputy. Some big names like Shikha Pandey, Jemimah Rodrigues and Punam Raut have been omitted from the squad but it still has some really talented players who will be eager to prove their worth on the ultimate stage.
Out of the 15 players who made their way to the squad, only seven were part of the team for the previous edition of the tournament. So, eight new faces have been picked for the voyage to the Trans-Tasman country and two more fresh faces have been kept as standby players as well.
Here we shall take a look at them and how they stack up in terms of their performance ahead of the mega event.
Shafali Verma
She needs no introduction at all. The way Shafali has gone about her business in international cricket since making her T20I debut in 2019, she has made a place for herself in the heart of every Indian fan. She made her India debut in T20Is but had to wait for two more years to make her ODI debut.
The 17-year-old is mainly known for her aggressive style of batting at the top of the order and is already one of the most feared batters in Women’s cricket at this nascent stage of her career. While she has played in 28 T20Is, including T20 World Cup 2020 matches, she has just six ODIs to her name. She has managed 164 ODI runs at an average of 27.33 so far and has a fifty to her name as well, which came against Australia Down Under in September, last year. Shafali will enjoy the good batting tracks and small boundaries in New Zealand, and India will depend on her to get them off to fast starts.
Yastika Bhatia
The 21-year-old is a relatively new face in the Indian side and can bat anywhere in the top four. She made her ODI debut last year in September during the Indian Women’s tour of Australia and subsequently went on to play in the T20Is and the only Test as well. During that tour, Bhatia showed immense maturity and potential, thus earning her a spot in the World Cup squad.
She made 102 runs during the three-match ODI series, including a best score of 64. The way she paced her innings in all three matches and scored vital runs after the early dismissal of the openers impressed everyone.
The youngster impressed during the Senior Women’s Challengers Trophy as well. Playing for India 'A', Bhatia amassed 199 runs in just four matches at an impressive average of 49.75. She will be looking to deliver equally good performances in the middle-order for India during the mega event in New Zealand.
Richa Ghosh
The 18-year-old wicketkeeper-batter from Bengal is mainly known for her hard-hitting ability in the lower middle-order. She burst onto the scene for the first time during the tri-nation series final in Australia in 2020 where she played a good knock of 17, albeit in a losing cause.
Ghosh also went onto play the T20 World Cup from there on and has played 12 T20Is till date, amassing 168 runs in the format at a good average of 24 and strike-rate of 115.06.
Following her success in T20Is, Ghosh was handed the opportunity to play in the ODIs against Australia in September and she didn't disappoint. Batting between positions 4 and 7, the youngster amassed 76 runs during the series, including impressive knocks of 32* and 44. She showed that she had the necessary range and shots to fulfil the role of a lower middle-order batter and thus sealed her place in the side for the ODI World Cup.
Pooja Vastrakar in action against England
(Photo: IANS)
Pooja Vastrakar
The 22-year-old will have a crucial role to play for India in the ODI World Cup as she can lend immense balance to the side owing to her all-round ability. Vastrakar is a right-arm medium pacer who can also do an equally good job as a lower middle-order power hitter. She has played in all three formats for the Indian eves now and has excellent all-round returns as well. Vastrakar has an ODI fifty to her name and a total of 26 wickets in all formats combined.
Her T20I batting strike-rate of 130.08 sums up how dangerous a batter she can be. During the Senior Women’s One-Day Challengers Trophy last year, she was the fourth highest run-getter with 161 runs to her name, including two fifties. She averaged 53.66 and recorded an outstanding strike-rate of 98.77 as well. She also chipped in with four wickets with her bowling, at a mean average of 25.80. These numbers show how crucial her role is going to be for India during the World Cup.
Meghna Singh
The 27-year-old right-arm medium pacer made her India debut in Tests and ODIs during the Australia tour last year. While she came up with decent returns in the Tests, picking up two wickets in the only match at an average of 33.00, she could manage only a solitary wicket in the three matches of the ODI leg.
Meghna was pretty economical though, as she registered an economy rate of 4.85 during the ODI series. However, she came up with a good performance during the Senior Women’s One-Day Challengers Trophy after that and picked up four wickets during the tournament at an excellent average of 21.75. Meghna has been mainly picked in the side to give India early breakthroughs with the new ball and she will be looking to deliver on the faith shown in her.
Sneh Rana
The 27-year-old spin-bowling all-rounder scripted one of the best comeback tales in Women’s cricket last year. Rana had become a forgotten name in Indian cricket once she got dropped from the side in 2016. But she worked her way back into the team on the back of some impressive performances at the domestic level and once she did, there was no looking back. 2021 turned out to be a memorable year for Rana as she made some vital all-round contributions for India in England and Australia. She picked up a wicket and scored vital 24 runs down the order to lead India to a win in the final ODI of the three-match series against England in Worcester.
Then she repeated a similar all-round feat again when she scored 30 and picked up a wicket to power India to another ODI win against Australia at their den. But her moment of fame came in the only Test during that England tour when she picked up four wickets and played a memorable knock of an unbeaten 80 to save the match for India. With these kind of all-round performances, Rana has shown how strong her mindset is and that she can deliver match-winning performances in crunch games. India will need the same in the upcoming World Cup.
Renuka Singh Thakur
She is another player who made her India debut during the Australia tour last year. Renuka is a 25-year-old medium pacer who has the ability to pick wickets both with the new ball and at the death. She played all three T20Is against Australia but that turned out to be quite a tough outing for her as she returned with just one wicket, going at an economy rate of over 6 runs per over.
However, Renuka made a good comeback during the Senior Women’s One-Day Challengers Trophy as she picked up five wickets in four matches, at a good economy rate of 4.00. India will be banking on her to deliver a similar performance in the opportunities she gets during the World Cup.
Taniya Bhatia
The 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batter has been a regular part of the Indian side in all three formats since making her debut in 2018. Bhatia has played 50 T20Is, 18 ODIs and two Tests to date and has an ODI fifty to her name as well. However, since last year, Richa Ghosh got ahead in the pecking order in white-ball cricket due to Bhatia's limited batting ability.
Bhatia last played in T20Is back in 2020 and her last ODI was during the England tour last year. But she is still an integral part of the squad due to her superior wicket-keeping abilities and thus presents India with a good back-up option for the mega event in New Zealand.
File picture of Sabbhineni Meghana
(Photo: Twitter)
Sabbhineni Meghana
The top-order batter did play six T20Is for the Indian eves when she was merely a 20-year-old buy got dropped from the side as she could amass only 54 runs in those six matches. However, she has become a much improved player now and has been kept as one of the three standby players for World Cup on the back of a terrific performance at the domestic level.
Meghana finished as the highest run-scorer in the Senior Women’s One-Day Challengers Trophy with 207 runs, including a century and a fifty. Her runs came at an average of over 50 and an outstanding strike-rate of 100.48 as well. She isn't a part of the original squad for the World Cup now but will be a good option to have as backup in case any of the first team members gets injured.
Simran Dil Bahadur
The 22-year-old medium-pacer got a chance to play in the home T20I series against South Africa. Even though she picked up just one wicket in the three games, she showed a lot of promise with the way she bowled. Bahadur didn't get any more chances after that, though.
However, she has been chosen as a standby player for the World Cup due to her superb bowling performance in the Senior Women’s One-Day Challengers Trophy. Bahadur picked up seven wickets during the tournament at a mean average of 19.85 and thus made a case for her selection once again.
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