Sri Lanka announce 19-member squad for white-ball series against India Women

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) have announced their women’s squad for the home series against India Women, which will feature three T20Is and three ODIs. The 19-member squad, led by Chamari Athapaththu, will take on the Harmanpreet Kaur-led India in the limited-overs series, which will be played from June 23 to July 7.

Apart from including key players like Hasini Perera, Nilakshi de Silva and Oshadi Ranasinghe, SLC have also given a maiden call-up to Vishmi Gunaratne in the ODI team. She features in the T20I squad as well but has already played four matches in the format.

The three T20Is will be played in Dambulla, which will be followed by three ODIs in Pallekele. The one-day series will be significant for India Women as they will be playing their first series in the current ICC Women's Championship cycle.

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Sri Lanka’s squad: Chamari Athapaththu (c), Hasini Perera, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeevani, Oshadhi Ranasinghe, Sugandika Kumari, Inoka Ranaweeram, Achini Kulasuriya, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, Malsha Shehani, Ama Kanchana, Udeshika Prabodhani, Rashmi de Silva, Hansima Karunaratne, Kaushani Nuthyangana, Sathya Sandeepani and Tharika Sewwandi.

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“When two different captains were there, sometimes things were not easy” - India Women’s captain Kaur on post-Mithali Raj era

The series in Sri Lanka will be India Women’s first assignment since the retirement of Mithali Raj. Harmanpreet Kaur has been elevated to the one-day captaincy following Mithali’s exit.

Speaking ahead of the tour, Kaur had said about her promotion:

“I have been leading the T20 side for a long time and now this time, I am getting an opportunity to lead the ODI side as well. I think things will be easy because when two different captains were there, sometimes things were not easy because we both had different ideas. Now, it’s easy for me to tell them what I am expecting from them and things will be much easier for me and my teammates as well.”

Praising Mithali's contribution to Indian cricket, Kaur had added:

"Well, as we all know, she (Mithali) has done great for women’s cricket and I don’t think anyone can fill this place. If you talk about Mithali Di, I don’t think there is anyone who can take her place and we will always miss her in our dressing rooms and the things she has done so far.”

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India Women’s T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice captain), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), S Meghna, Deepti Sharma, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Simran Bahadur, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Radha Yadav.

India Women’s ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice captain), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), S Meghna, Deepti Sharma, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Simran Bahadur, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Harleen Deol.