Harmanpreet Kaur has been named captain and Smriti Mandhana vice-captain of the Indian women's team that is set to play at the 2022 Commonwealth Games starting on July 29 in Birmingham. Women's T20 cricket makes its CWG debut this year after a men's ODI tournament was played at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games.
India are in Group A with Australia, Barbados, and Pakistan. Sri Lanka, England, New Zealand, and South Africa are placed in Group B. Their campaign starts on July 29 with a game against Australia. The top two teams from the respective pools will progress to the semi-finals.
India recently beat Sri Lanka 2-1 in a series that was played in the run-up to the tournament. “We touched upon all the bases,” head coach Ramesh Powar earlier said about India's preparations for the tournament during the series. “The wickets were slow, so we were not expecting too many high-scoring games, but the way Harmanpreet, Shafali (Verma), Jemimah (Rodrigues) and Smriti (Mandhana) batted, we are on the right track.”
The Indian women's cricket team is part of a 215-member contingent that the country will be sending to Birmingham for the Games. IOA acting president Anil Khanna called it a 'gender-neutral contingent' with 108 men and 107 women being part of the touring party. The overall contingent count stands at 322 including 72 team officials, 26 extra officials, nine contingent staff, including three general managers.
Team India 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.
{{/usCountry}}Team India 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.
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