Shafali Verma dropped from India's squad for upcoming ODI series against Australia

Ahead of the 3-match ODI series against Australia Women, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has released Team India's squad. The prolific opener Shafali Verma is dropped from the squad after a series of failed performances in white ball cricket.

She hasn't been scoring runs consistently, so the Board has taken such harsh steps against the player. Verma's last half-century came in July 2022, and since then, she hasn't been able to convert her scores, which was concerning. 

In the last home series against New Zealand, Verma scored just 56 runs. She is a brilliant batter and has the perfect skills. However, she needs time to reflect on her performance and what she lacks to get back into the team. Moreover, Harleen Deol, who had been out of the team for a long time due to an injury sustained while playing for Gujarat Gaints, was selected in the squad. 

Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Priya Punia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Yastika Bhatia (WK), Richa Ghosh (WK), Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma, Minnu Mani, Priya Mishra, Radha Yadav, Titas Sadhu, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Saima Thakor

Richa Ghosh comes back after completing grade 12 board exams

Another top-class player, Richa Ghosh, has returned to the Indian team after a gap of some months. She was away from the team because of her 12th Board exams and had to miss the New Zealand series. On the other hand, D. Hemalatha, Uma Chetry and Sayali Satgare were left out of the squad. They were part of the team which had won against New Zealand in the previous series. 

Minnu Mani got her maiden call-up for the Australia series after her magnificent performance in the domestic set-up. Mani captained the India A side against Australia A and beat them 2-1 in August this year.