England tour: Veteran pacer Jhulan Jhulan back in ODI squad; uncapped Kiran Navgire picked for T20Is

PTI

New Delhi, August 19

Veteran pace spearhead Jhulan Goswami made a comeback in the Indian women’s ODI squad for the tour of England which also saw hard-hitting Women’s T20 Challenge sensation Kiran Navgire receiving a maiden call-up in the shortest format.

India will be in England on a two-week white-ball tour that comprises six white-ball games—three WT20Is and three WODIs.

The T20I matches will be held in Hove (September 10), Derby (September 13) and Bristol (September 15) while the ODIs are scheduled at Hove (September 18), Canetrbury (September 21) and the Lord’s (September 24).

Goswami, who will be 40 in three months time, had last played for India at the ODI World Cup in New Zealand in March against Bangladesh.

While her contemporary Mithali Raj had retired, the veteran seamer was nursing an injury and wasn’t picked for the Sri Lanka tour.

While there were speculations that she could retire but the 201-match seasoned campaigner is ready to add to his tally of 252 wickets, which is highest in the world in 50-over format.

The T20I squad saw the return of Richa Ghosh in the main squad after being questionably left out of the CWG team at the expense of Taniyaa Bhatia, who has once again regained her place in both squad.

While Richa is in T20I squad, Yastika Bhatia has managed to retain her place in the ODI team.

But the biggest pick was the burly Kiran Navgire, a Maharshtra native, who plays domestic cricket for Nagaland.

Her 34-ball-69 which had five towering sixes for Velocity during a Women’s T20 Challenge game against Trailblazers gave a glimpse of his power-hitting and alongside Shafali and Richa would add impact to the team.

Among those who once again missed out are veteran seamer Shikha Pandey, who has been repeatedly ignored and leg-spinner Poonam Yadav, who perhaps needs to reinvent her bowling to make a comeback.

India’s T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (Vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Jemimah Rodrigues, Sneh Rana, Renuka Thakur, Meghna Singh, Radha Yadav, Sabbineni Meghana, Taniyaa Sapna Bhatia (WK), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Dayalan Hemalatha, Simran Dil Bahadur, Richa Ghosh (WK), K.P. Navgire.

India’s ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (Vice-Captain), Shafali Verma, Sabbineni Meghana, Deepti Sharma, Taniyaa Sapna Bhatia (WK), Yastika Bhatia (WK), Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Renuka Thakur, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Harleen Deol, Dayalan Hemalatha, Simran Dil Bahadur, Jhulan Goswami, Jemimah Rodrigues.