BCCI announces India squad for Women's Asia Cup; Meghna Singh, Saika Ishaque added in travelling reserves

MUMBAI: The Women's Selection Committee on Saturday announced the Team India squad for the upcoming Women's Asia Cup T20, which is set to take place in Dambulla, Sri Lanka from July 19.

Harmanpreet Kaur will once again lead Team India in the tournament, with star opener Smriti Mandhana playing the role of her deputy.

The ninth edition of the Women's Asia Cup will be played from 19 to 28 July in Sri Lanka in the T20 format.

The tournament offers the Asian teams a chance to experiment and fine-tune their squads ahead of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup later this year.

The high-octane clash between arch-rivals India and Pakistan will be held on July 19. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals, which are scheduled to take place on July 26. The final will take place on July 28. For the first time in the history of the tournament, eight teams will feature in the upcoming edition, which is one more than the previous competition.

The Harmanpreet-led side will then take on UAE on July 21 followed by their clash against Nepal on July 23 in the group stage of the tournament.

Alongside the 15, India have also named four travelling reserves.

Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (WK), Uma Chetry (WK), Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Dayalan Hemalatha, Asha Sobhana, Radha Yadav, Shreyanka Patil and Sajana Sajeevan.

Travelling reserves: Shweta Sehrawat, Saika Ishaque, Tanuja Kanwer and Meghna Singh.