Shafali named in T20I squad for England tour but misses out of ODIs

Shafali Verma has been named in India's T20I squad for the first time since the Women's T20 World Cup last year, while Sneh Rana, too, makes it for the first time since the 2023 Women's T20 World Cup. They are part of the 15-member T20I squad for the white-ball tour of England that starts on June 28.

Seam-bowling allrounders Kranti Goud and Sayali Satghare, and left-arm spinners N Shree Charani and Shuchi Upadhyay received their maiden T20I call-ups. Shree Charani and Upadhyay were part of the ODI tri-series in Sri Lanka that India won earlier this week. Goud was called-up to that squad after Kashvee Gautam was ruled out midway because of a leg injury.

Shafali was out of the national side after ODI series at home against New Zealand last year. She went back to domestic cricket and scored heavily - leading run-getter in the Senior Women's One Day Trophy (527 runs, 152.31 strike rate, 75.29 average) and the Senior Women's One Day Challenger Trophy (414 runs, 145.26 strike rate, 82.80 average) - while captaining Haryana. She also scored 304 runs (fourth-most in the season) from nine innings at a strike rate of 152.76 for Delhi Capitals in WPL 2025.

Rana, on the other hand, has forced her way into the T20I setup following her performance in WPL 2025, where she was drafted in by Royal Challengers Bengaluru for the injured Shreyanka Patil. Rana picked up six wickets in five matches and almost helped RCB qualify for the playoffs when she hit Deepti Sharma for 26 runs in an over against UP Warriorz. She is not part of BCCI's centrally-contracted players but was the Player of the Series in the ODI tri-series in Sri Lanka. Patil, who picked up an injury at the T20 World Cup last year, is yet to be given clearance by BCCI's Centre of Excellence (formerly the National Cricket Academy).

Harleen Deol, who is a regular No. 3 in the ODI side, is back in the T20I side for the first time since July 2024. She was Gujarat Giants' third-highest run-getter in WPL 2025, scoring 232 runs at a strike rate of 120.83. Raghvi Bist, Uma Chetry and Minnu Mani, who all played in India's last T20I assignment against West Indies at home, do not feature in the England-bound squad.

Despite the strong showing, Shafali continues to miss out from India's ODI squad, that is largely unchanged following their strong tri-series showing. Satghare is the only addition to the team that won the competition. She made her ODI debut against Ireland at home earlier this year and took three wickets in three matches.

Pratika Rawal, who averages 63.80 in 11 ODIs, is the designated opening partner for Smriti Mandhana with Deol backed to bat one-drop. Yastika Bhatia will be the back-up wicketkeeper for Richa Ghosh while Maharashtra's Tejal Hasabnis is the spare batter in the ODI setup.

Shree Charani and Upadhyay, who finished third on the wickets tally and was the Player of the Tournament as Madhya Pradesh won the Senior Women's One Day Trophy last year for the first time, are part of the spin department headed by Deepti and Rana.

There was no word on fast bowlers Renuka Singh, Pooja Vastrakar and Titas Sadhu, who were left out of the tri-series squad because of injury.

India Women will play five T20Is followed by three ODIs on the tour that overlaps with the men's five-match Test series. As per the women's future tours programme, this is India's last ODI series ahead of the Women's World Cup they would be hosting later this year.

Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, N Shree Charani, Shuchi Upadhyay, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Goud, Sayali Satghare

Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Shree Charani, Shuchi Upadhyay, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare