New Delhi, Jan 3:
Mithali Raj will lead a 14-member Indian squad to the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers to be held in Colombo from February 3-21.
The Indian team last played in the Asia Cup T20 in Bangkok where it defended its title with an unbeaten run. Their two main players, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana, are currently playing the Big Bash in Australia.
India’s next big event will be the World Cup qualifier. They are in Group A alongside Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Thailand while South Africa lead Group B comprising Pakistan, Bangladesh, Scotland and PNG.
India will play a warm-up match against South Africa before their opening Qualifier against Sri Lanka on February 7.
Each side will play four matches in the first round, following which the top three sides from each group will progress to the Super Six stage, while also carrying forward points they earn against sides which have progressed to the Super Six stage from their group.
The top four sides from the Super Six stage, in which each side will play three matches against teams from the other group, will complete the eight-team line-up for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, while the top two sides will battle it out for the title in the February 21 final.
The World Cup will be staged in the UK from June 26 to July 23.
Team: Mithali Raj (captain), Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Thirush Kamini, Veda Krishnamurthy, Devika Vaidya, Sushma Verma (wicket-keeper), Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Sukanya Parida, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Deepti Sharma. PTI
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