Indian Women's Squad Named For ODI Series Against Australia

The BCCI's women's selection committee on Tuesday announced the Indian squad for the One-day International (ODI) series against Australia, commencing on March 12. The three-match ODI series that will be held in Vadodara is a part of the ICC Women's Championship (2017-2020). The team will be led by India veteran Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur will be her deputy. The India women's team is in red-hot form as they outclassed the South Africa women's team in the recently-concluded ODI and T20I series and became the first Indian side to register a double series win.

Earlier, Harmanpreet Kaur, the India T20I captain, had praised the Indian team for its outstanding fielding in South Africa, which led to their victories.

"The South Africa tour was good against good players who can change the situation (complexion of the game). The good thing is that team did not depend on one or two players and everyone performed," Harmanpreet had told reporters.

With the T20 World Cup later this year, Harmanpreet said the team was intent on giving chances to youngsters during the upcoming matches against the visiting Australia and England teams.

"We have the T20 World Cup and want to give chance to youngsters. Australia and England are good teams and we are excited," she said about the upcoming clashes.

India would first play against Australia in Vadodara and then will be involved in a tri-series involving Australia and England in Mumbai.

ODI squad:

Mithali Raj (capt), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-capt), Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Veda Krishnamurthy, Mona Meshram, Sushma Verma (wk), Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey, Sukanya Parida, Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma.