Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur earn maiden call-ups as BCCI announce women's squads for Australia tour

New Delhi: Seam bowlers Meghna Singh and Renuka Singh Thakur were handed maiden India call-ups, while left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad returned as the BCCI on Tuesday announced the women’s teams for the upcoming one-off Test and limited-overs series against Australia. [caption id=“attachment_9909941” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] While right-arm medium pacer Meghna (In photo) took five wickets for Railways, Renuka grabbed nine wickets for Himachal Pradesh during the tournament. Image: Twitter @BCCI Women[/caption] The Indian team will leave for Australia on 29 August to play three ODIs, a day-night Test and three T20Is, beginning in September. The selectors decided to reward 27-year-old Meghna and 25-year-old Renuka for their exploits in the senior one-day trophy in April. While right-arm medium pacer Meghna took five wickets for Railways, Renuka grabbed nine wickets for Himachal Pradesh during the tournament. Left-handed batter Yastika Bhatia also found a place in all the three squads but Priya Punia and Indrani Roy were left out. Experienced spinner Rajeshwari, who was part of the South Africa series, was not considered for England tour as she was recovering from a knee injury and had also suffered a bout of COVID-19. The selectors announced an 18-member team, led by skipper Mithali Raj, for the one-off Test and ODI series, and a 17-strong squad, captained by Harmanpreet Kaur for the T20 series. “The All-India Senior Women’s Selection Committee on Tuesday picked the squads for India Women’s upcoming tour in Australia. The series will comprise 3 ODIs, one Test match and 3 T20Is,” the BCCI said in a release. The tour will begin with the ODIs series, starting with the first game at the North Sydney Oval on 19 September, followed by the second and third matches at the Junction Oval on 22 and 24 September respectively. Perth will then host the pink-ball one-off Test scheduled from 30 September, followed by the T20Is at the North Sydney Oval on 7, 9 and 11n October. The Indian players have been training in Bengaluru ahead of the tour. The team will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine upon arrival in Australia before they take on the hosts in the first ODI. After the tour of England that concluded in July, this is another important tour for India as they build on their ODI World Cup preparations in New Zealand in early 2022. India Women’s squad for one-off Test & ODI series: Mithali Raj (Captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh, Ekta Bisht. India Women’s T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Harleen Deol, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Renuka Singh Thakur.