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The BCCI has announced Team India's squads for the Asian Games 2023, which will be held in September-October this year. The women's squad, in particular, has come for a fair bit of criticism.
While the big names have made the grade, there are quite a few notable exclusions, some of whom have been named in the standbys. With the Women in Blue putting up some poor performances in their recent assignment in Bangladesh, the selectors have clearly attempted to take some drastic measures.
India women's squad for the Asian Games 2023: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Devika Vaidya, Anjali Sarvani, Titas Sadhu, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Minnu Mani, Kanika Ahuja, Uma Chetry (wk), Anusha Bareddy.
The women's team's selectors have been in the spotlight for a few years now. They find themselves at the center of a storm once again, with even casual watchers of the game in India noticing clear inconsistencies.
On that note, here are three bizarre decisions that have been made while selecting the India women's squad for the Asian Games 2023.
#3 Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana and Harleen Deol have been named in the reserves
A pertinent question on every cricket fan's mind is - why have three of India's most important players over the last few years been named in the reserves?
Pooja Vastrakar is the side's premier pace-bowling all-rounder and perhaps even the lead fast bowler. With her pace and ball-striking ability, she is a unique package no one else in the country can match. However, she has inexplicably - and suddenly - been dropped from the main squad.
Sneh Rana and Harleen Deol were two of the best performers in the Women's Premier League (WPL) campaign. In fact, they were two of the few bright spots for the Gujarat Giants (GG) in an otherwise miserable season.
What does Rana need to do in order to be picked in the T20I squad on a regular basis? India's thinking might be to back Deepti Sharma and Minnu Mani in the off-spinners department, but the Railways skipper is just as talented with both the bat and the ball.
Harleen, meanwhile, is another complete package. She can bat, bowl and field, and her all-round skills should definitely assure her a permanent place in the squad, if not the playing XI.
#2 Richa Ghosh has suddenly been picked again
Shortly after a disappointing WPL 2023 campaign for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Richa Ghosh was dropped from India's squad for the Bangladesh tour.
Reports from certain quarters suggested that Richa had failed the requisite fitness tests, although there was no official word on the matter. Yastika Bhatia donned the gloves in the Bengal keeper's absence, with the young southpaw struggling to come to terms with a role in the middle order.
Now, Richa has returned to the squad for the Asian Games. She's arguably the best T20 batter in the side so it's hard to debate her inclusion, but why the inconsistency? Has the 19-year-old somehow managed to immediately hit the fitness benchmark? Or have India been lenient with her?
#1 Players like Meghna Singh, Rashi Kanojiya and Monica Patel have been immediately excluded
India's squad for the Bangladesh tour didn't make a great deal of sense. Players like Monica Patel, Meghna Singh and Rashi Kanojiya, who hadn't done much of note prior to the series, were picked.
None of them got meaningful opportunities in Bangladesh. While the former two didn't have much of a role to play as spin-friendly pitches presented themselves, the left-arm spinner found herself behind Anusha Bareddy in the pecking order.
Despite that, though, all three have been dropped from India's Asian Games squad. Titas Sadhu and Anjali Sarvani form the pace attack, with Rajeshwari Gayakwad returning to side. Renuka Singh Thakur and Shikha Pandey are surprisingly not in the mix once again.
What are the selectors thinking? If only they could communicate their decision-making process!
