Women's Asia Cup: No Surprises as BCCI Announces 15 Member Squad

When the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named a 15 member Indian squad for the upcoming Women’s Asia Cup T20, there were no such surprises. Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the side in the tournament which will be held in Malaysia. The tournament will also feature Pakistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Thailand and hosts Malaysia. It will be a 6 side tournament. Each team will play the other team once in the league stage before the top two teams qualify for the final.

Matches will be played at Kuala Lumpur from June 1-11. Two with most points after the group stage will make it through to the final. There was a solitary change from the squad which also features in the T20 tri-series also featuring England and Australia. Veteran pacer Rumeli Dhar had to make way for Rajeshwadi Gayakwad. India lost three matches out of 4 and failed to make it to the final.

Meanwhile, opener Smriti Mandhana who looked in delightful touch during the previous series will continue as the vice-captain of the team. Youngster Jemimah Rodrigues is also part of the squad as she was able to retain his place like most other players.

Also Read: IPL 2018: CSK can Chase Any Total with Rayudu and Dhoni – Kris Srikkanth

The Indian colts have a terrific record in Asia Cup. They have won it 6 times. In fact, they are also the defending champions. The Women’s team won the trophy in 2016 in Bangkok. They didn’t lose a single match until the group stage. In the final, Mithali Raj was adjudged both the Player of the Match and Player of the Series.

The Indian colts will be looking forward to another amazing campaign. They won the previous Asia Cup beating Pakistan by 17 runs in the final.

Squad:

Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Mithali Raj, Veda Krishnamurthy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Anuja Patil, Deepti Sharma Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Mona Meshram

Also Read: IPL 2018, Match 26, DD v KKR: Daredevils Return to Wining Ways Against Kolkata Knight Riders