Shafali's form, Renuka's return and other key questions for India's World Cup squad

India enter their final stretch of World Cup preparations with a settled squad. They are buoyed by a tri-series win in Sri Lanka (also involving South Africa), and a series win in England. According to India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, their settled outfit is the biggest point of difference from the lead-up to previous campaigns.

On Tuesday, when the Neetu David-led selection committee meets to pick India's 15-member squad for the World Cup starting September 30, one of their toughest decisions could be around Shafali Verma's selection. Whether she is selected or not might be decisive to how India plan to balance consistency and explosive potential in the squad.

There are also tough selection calls to be made on key players coming back from injury. Here is a quick look at the questions the selection committee will need to take a call on:

Four of the top six (Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh) are certainties. As things stand, Pratika Rawal has made a compelling case to open with Mandhana, having notched up 703 runs in 14 innings at 54.07, while striking at 88.

Similarly, Harleen Deol has added a touch of consistency to her game since her comeback from injury late last year. She struck a maiden ODI century against West Indies in December, and has been a regular in the ODI setup since. Occasionally, though, there have been question marks about her tendency to start slowly, even though there's no threat to her place in the squad.

With Yastika Bhatia likely to be the second wicketkeeper, the team management also has a reserve batter in the mix. This makes the call to select Shafali - or not - tricky, even though there are no doubts about her experience and track record at the international level.

What she currently lacks, however, is form, which is evident from her recent returns for India A in Australia: scores of 52, 4, and 36 in three one-dayers, and 41, 3, and 3 in the T20s that preceded them.

During Pooja Vastrakar's absence from the side due to a long-standing stress injury, the team management found an able back-up in Amanjot Kaur.

The allrounder was used as the second seamer during the T20I leg of the England tour, which India won 3-2. In that series, apart from bowling her seam-ups and picking three wickets across 13 overs, she also struck an incredible, match-winning 63 not out to shore up a floundering innings.

However, the flaring up of a back injury during the ODI leg of the tour has raised some concerns. At the time, Harmanpreet termed her exclusion as rest, but it is understood that the team management has been concerned over her injury status and treated her with utmost caution.

While her scans are believed to have cleared her of a major issue, the selectors will need to assess if she can handle dual responsibilities of being a second seamer, which gives the team management the luxury of being spin-heavy, like they've tended to in recent times.

If Amanjot makes the cut, it is likely India may not need a third specialist seamer. In this case, someone like Arundhati Reddy could miss out. The selector then might have to make a case for selecting either Shafali, or a genuine wrist spinner - which they've lacked lately - like Prema Rawat, who had a breakout India A tour in Australia.

There is no question over their other two allrounders, who are near certainties in the squad as well: Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav, who impressed in England as well with her captaincy stint on the A tour of Australia. While Deepti offers bowling utility and finishing prowess, Radha is an outstanding fielder and has rediscovered herself as a left-arm spinner.

Much will depend on whether Renuka Singh, pace spearhead until recently, is fully fit after recovering from a stress fracture. If she isn't, Arundhati will be a straight shoo-in. But for now, indications are that Renuka is on the right track to make the cut, even though there is the risk of her being undercooked. She has not played any form of cricket since the WPL, and the Australia ODIs in the lead-up to the World Cup could be her final chance at getting into her groove.

Kranti Goud, the Madhya Pradesh pacer, has climbed through the selection ladder with her bristling energy and ability to hustle batters, as was seen during her match-winning 6 for 52 to seal the ODI series in England. Goud's excellent early initiation may put her ahead of Arundhati in the queue, especially if Amanjot is fit.

Sneh Rana, who made an excellent comeback during the Sri Lanka tri-series, and N Shree Charani are the two other specialist spinners in the mix, along with Deepti and Radha. Shreyanka Patil and Minnu Mani are also off-spinning allrounders who could be discussed.

India (likely squad): Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Radha Yadav, Sneh Rana, N Shree Charani, Renuka Singh/Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Goud, Shafali Verma/Prema Rawat