Shafali Verma was named captain of India’s 15-member squad for the ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup to be held in South Africa from January 14 to 29. The All-India Women’s Selection Committee picked the team for the maiden edition of the U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, as well as for the upcoming bilateral away T20 series against South Africa U-19 beginning December 17. Shafali will also lead in the five T20 matches against South Africa U-19. Squad: For SA T20s: Shafali Verma (C), Shweta Sehrawat (VC), Richa Ghosh (WK), G Trisha, Soumya Tiwari, Sonia Mehdiya, Hurley Gala, Hrishita Basu (WK), Sonam Yadav, Mannat Kashyap, Archana Devi, Parshavi Chopra, Titas Sadhu, Falak Naz, Shabnam MD, Shikha, Najla CMC, Yashashree. For ICC U-19 T20 World Cup: Shafali Verma (C), Shweta Sehrawat (VC), Richa Ghosh (WK), G Trisha, Soumya Tiwari, Sonia Mehdiya, Hurley Gala, Hrishita Basu (WK), Sonam Yadav, Mannat Kashyap, Archana Devi, Parshavi Chopra, Titas Sadhu, Falak Naz, Shabnam MD. Standby s: Shikha, Naj la CMC, Yashashree.
Pant released from ODI squad in Bangladesh
Flamboyant wicket keeper batter Rishabh Pant has been released abruptly from the Indian ODI squad for the three-match series against Bangladesh, the BCCI said. Pant was released following consultation with the BCCI medical team and no replacement has been sought. “In consultation with the BCCI Medical Team, Rishabh Pant has been released from the ODI squad. He will join the team ahead of the Test series. No replacement has been sought,” the BCCI said in a media release.
991 players sign up for for IPL 2023 auction
A total of 991 cricketers including 714 Indians have registered for the IPL 2023 Players’ Auction to be held in Kochi on December 23. Among the 14 overseas countries, Australia with 57 players have the most in the auction pool, followed by South Africa (52). West Indies (33), England (31), New Zealand (27), Sri Lanka (23), Afghanistan (14) Ireland (8), Netherlands (7), Bangladesh (6), UAE (6), Zimbabwe (6), Namibia (5) and Scotland (2) are the other countries. “If every franchise were to have a maximum of 25 players in their squad, 87 players are available to be bought in the auction (of which up to 30 players can be overseas players),” said the statement issued by BCCI secretary Jay Shah.
Lakshya regains career-best sixth spot
Lakshya Sen jumped two spots to regain his career-best sixth position in the latest BWF World Rankings. The 21-year-old from Almora, who had a stellar run this season, has 75,024 points from 23 tournaments. Kidambi Srikanth and H S Prannoy remained static at world number 11 and 12 respectively. Women’s doubles pair of Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand broke into the top 20 by jumping two places to world number 19. The pair, winner of bronze medal in Birmingham CWG, has 46,020 points from 17 tournaments.
