Batter Shweta Sehrawat has been named captain of the Under-19 women’s squad, and she will lead the team against the New Zealand Under-19 women in a five-match T20I series in Mumbai from November 27 to December 6.
All five T20 matches will be played in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC). The series is part of the preparations for the Indian team ahead of the inaugural U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, to be held in South Africa from January 14-29.
Sehrawat, a top-order batsman, led one of the four sides at the Under-19 T20 Challenger Trophy, which concluded earlier this month.
With 163 runs scored in four innings at a strike rate of 111.64, including a high of 51, Sehrawat led the event in adding runs on board. At the Under-19 quadrangular series, which included teams from India, Sri Lanka, and the West Indies, Sehrawat also led the run charts and strike rates with 164 runs at 151.85.
Batter Soumya Tiwari has been named vice-captain of the 15-member squad. She made 107 runs in four innings at the Challenger Trophy, the fourth-best in the competition but at a strike rate of 79.25. Also part of the squad is Shikha Shalot, a middle-order batter, whose unbeaten 69 off 49 was the highest individual score of the competition.
In fact, the top four scorers in the competition – Sehrawat, G Trisha, Shalot, and Tiwary – all made the squad.
Wicketkeepers Hrishita Basu and Nandini Kashyap have been named. Basu had the highest strike rate of 132.25 among hitters who faced at least 50 balls in the Challenger Trophy.
Sonam Yadav, Archana Devi, and Titas Sadhu are three of the top four wicket-takers in the team’s bowling assault. Sonam led the way with seven wickets in four games at an economy of 3.81. Archana finished second on the list with six kills. Sadhu has played for the senior Bengal Women’s team; in the most recent Women’s T20 Trophy, she took two wickets in four matches with an economy rate of 4.07.
India is in Group D of the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, alongside Scotland, South Africa, and the UAE. The U19 teams from India and South Africa will also compete in the first World Cup match on January 14 at Willowmoore Park in Benoni.
The U19 Women’s T20 Challengers in Goa kicked off India’s preparations for the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, with 52 players divided into four teams. In Visakhapatnam, India also fielded U-19 A and B teams in a quadrangular series against the West Indies and Sri Lanka.
Squad: Shweta Sehrawat (capt), Soumya Tiwari (vice-capt), Shikha Shalot, Trisha G, Sonia Mehdiya, Hurley Gala, Hrishita Basu (wk), Nandini Kashyap (wk), Sonam Yadav, Mannat Kashyap, Archana Devi, Parshavi Chopra, Titas Sadhu, Falak Naz, Shabnam MD (ANI)
