"Grind but never give up" - Twitter hails Shikha Pandey on her return to 2023 T20 World Cup squad

On Wednesday, December 28, cricket fans were excited to see the inclusion of Indian women's team pacer Shikha Pandey in the 2023 T20 World Cup squad.

The All India Women's selection committee under the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday named a 15-member squad for the T20I tri-series followed by the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023.

Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the side in both the tournaments in South Africa, with opener Smriti Mandhana named the vice-captain. 13 of the 15 players who were part of the five-match T20I series against Australia this month were retained.

Top-order batter Sabbhineni Meghana and pace bowler Meghana Singh were the only two players from India's 15-member squad against Australia who didn't make the cut to the WT20 squad. The pair, along with spin bowling all-rounder Sneh Rana, were named on the reserve players' list for the showpiece event.

The most surprising selection in the squad was of 33-year-old Shikha Pandey, who played her last T20 International game for India in October 2021.

Pandey played for India D Women in the Senior Women's T20 Challenger Trophy last month. She picked up a couple of wickets in four matches at an average of 40 and an economy of 6.15. With 40 wickets in 56 matches at 25.32, Pandey is the eighth-most wicket-taker in Indian women's cricket in T20Is of all time.

Many fans on Twitter welcomed the decision to bring the experienced player back to the the squad for the eighth edition of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup.

Left-handed batter Devika Vaidya made her return to the squad for the shortest format in the home T20I series against Australia after a gap of eight years. She amassed 80 runs in five innings at 26.67 and a strike rate of 109.59.

Madhya Pradesh pace bowler Pooja Vastrakar's availibility in the T20 World Cup will be subjected to her fitness. The tournament begins on February 10 as hosts South Africa take on Sri Lanka in Cape Town. India will kick off their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on February 12.

About the author

Viransh is an Indian Sports journalist, who covers Table Tennis, Hockey, Badminton, Squash and Volleyball at Sportskeeda. His BMM degree in Journalism initially paved the way for his entry into sports writing and he has around 3.5 years of professional experience.

Viransh has a knack of getting on the ground at times in search of stories, but always ensures to verify them from multiple sources and exercises patience when gathering all relevant facts for the stories presented in his articles. His methods have helped build a strong authority in his field and he has interviewed star Indian cricketer Suryakumar Yadav’s club coach Vinayak Mane, and Arjuna Award winning Table Tennis paddler Sreeja Akula.

Viransh's interest in Indian sports piqued after PV Sindhu’s silver medal win at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and was further intensified by Neeraj Chopra’s gold medal win at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He admires legendary Indian Table Tennis paddler Achanta Sharath Kamal for his grind, his achievements and his resilience. According to him, Sharath Kamal’s bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games in mixed doubles with Manika Batra paved the way for a host of emerging stars in Table Tennis.

During his free time, he consumes all forms of sports content and also watches regional Indian cinema.

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