Swetha Verma, Yastika Bhatia earn maiden call-ups to India’s ODI squad

Lucknow: India have announced squads for their limited-overs series against South Africa, beginning March 7 here.

Wicket-keeper Swetha Verma and left-handed batter Yastika Bhatia have got their maiden call-ups for the five-match ODI series against South Africa. Returning to the squad is Sushma Verma, who last played an international game in 2018.

Mansi Joshi, the fast bowler who has been troubled by injuries of late, has been added to both the ODI and T20I squads. C Pratyusha and Monica Patel are the two uncapped players in the mix.

Teenage sensation Shafali Verma is only part of the T20Is and so are Harleen Deol, Ayushi Soni, Nuzhat Parveen, Richa Ghosh, Arundhati Reddy and Simran Bahadur.

All the players are currently in quarantine in Lucknow and will have to clear two COVID-19 tests before they begin training.

The two big names missing from both squads are experienced all-rounder Shikha Pandey and wicket-keeper Taniya Bhatia.

The five-match ODI series will take place from March 7-17, while the three T20Is will be played on March 20, 21 and 23.

ODI squad: Mithali Raj (c), Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), D. Hemalatha, Deepti Sharma, Sushma Verma (wk), Swetha Verma (wk), Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Mansi Joshi, Poonam Yadav, C. Prathyusha, Monica Patel

T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Sushma Verma (wk), Nuzhat Parveen (wk), Ayushi Soni, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, C. Prathyusha, Simran Dil Bahadur. (UNI)