On dropping Jemimah Rodrigues, Shikha Pandey from 2022 Women World Cup squad, chief selector Neetu David says “We are not allowed to speak”

New Delhi: BCCI women's chief selector Neetu David on Thursday said that the five-member selection committee is not allowed to speak on the selection of India squad for the 2022 Cricket World Cup.

The All-India Women's Selection Committee on Wednesday picked the team for the showpiece event, which is scheduled between March 4 and April 3 in New Zealand. However, the lack of clarity on what basis the players were selected opened a room for plenty of debate among experts and fans.

Star batter Jemimah Rodrigues and all-rounder Shikha Pandey are the notable absentees from the 15-member squad.

"Right now we are not allowed to speak," David told UNI.

Whenever there is a squad announcement for a mega event, BCCI arranges a press conference. Interestingly, BCCI had organised a press conference, which was led by then chief selector Hemlata Kala, at its headquarters during the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup.

When asked whether there will be a press conference ahead of team's departure and on selection of players, David said, "Right now I have no idea."

Both Rodrigues and Pandey were also dropped from a one-off T20I game and five-match ODI series against New Zealand.

India will play the limited-overs series against New Zealand between February 9 and 24.

India squad for 5 ODIs vs NZ and World Cup: Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav.

Standby Players: Sabbhineni Meghana, Ekta Bisht, Simran Dil Bahadur.

India squad for one-off T20I vs NZ: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, S. Meghna, Simran Dil Bahadur. (UNI)