The BCCI confirmed on Monday that veteran batter Harmanpreet Kaur will captain a 15-member Indian squad in the inaugural women's cricket category at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, which will begin on July 28.
In the league that will feature women's T20Is, opener Smriti Mandhana will serve as her replacement.
"The squad for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022 was chosen at a meeting of the All-India Women's Selection Committee on Monday. Women's T20 International will debut at this famous multisport event for the first time "Jay Shah, the BCCI secretary, disclosed in a release.
With Australia, Barbados, and Pakistan, India is in Group A. Group B includes South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka. The top two teams from each pool advance to the semifinal round. In the league stage of the competition, which will begin on July 29, India is slated to play three games.
Along with Harman and Smriti, the group also includes Shafali Verma, an opener, spinners Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Sneh Rana, all-rounders Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar, and wicketkeeper-batter Taniya Bhatia.
Meghna Singh, a young bowler who excelled in the recently finished away series against Sri Lanka as a fill-in bowler, has also been kept on.
Jemimah Rodrigues, who had earlier this year been benched for the Women's World Cup in New Zealand, made a comeback in the recently finished ODI series against Sri Lanka. Jemimah, who was competing in her first international match since October 2021, helped India win the opening T20I against Sri Lanka in Dambulla by scoring a critical 36 not out off 27 balls.
The reserves are Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh, and Simran Dil Bahadur.
The T20 World Champions Australia will be the Indian women's first opponent at Edgbaston on July 29. Pakistan will be their opponent on July 31, and Barbados will be their final opponent on August 3.
The Indian women's squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, S. Meghana, Taniyaa Sapna Bhatia (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Radha Yadav, Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana.
Standby: Simran Dil Bahadur, Richa Ghosh, Poonam Yadav.