Pooja Vastrakar not considered for T20Is against Australia due to injury, Sneh Rana dropped

Pooja Vastrakar has been ruled out of the five-match T20I series against Australia due to an injury, while Sneh Rana has been overlooked. The T20I series between India and Australia will begin on December 9 in Mumbai.

Pooja Vastrakar has suffered an injury. (PTI Photo)

By India Today Web Desk: India all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar has been ruled out of the five-match T20I series against Australia, beginning December 9 in Mumbai.

The BCCI in a statement said the 23-year-old Vastrakar has been “ruled out owing to an injury” and “was not considered for selection”. Meanwhile, Sneh Rana, who was part of India’s Asia Cup winning squad, failed to find a place in the squad for the upcoming T20I series against Australia.

The All-India Women’s Selection Committee handed a maiden call-up to Anjali Sarvani and brought Devika Vaidya back into the fold. The Neetu David-led panel also picked four net bowlers – Monika Patel, Arundhati Reddy, SB Pokharkar, Simran Bahadur – for the T20I series.

The D.Y. Patil Stadium will host the first two matches (December 9 and 11) and the remaining three T20Is will be held at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) on December 14, 17 and 20.

India and Australia recently clashed in the Commonwealth Games final in Birmingham, with Australia clinching the historic gold. The T20I series will be part of their preparation for next year’s T20 World Cup in South Africa in February, where Australia will enter as the defending champions.

The T20I series will be critical for India as they need to figure out the probables in the build up to the World Cup. During the last World Cup in 2020, Australia crushed India in front of a packed MCG in the finals.

Meanwhile, for Australia, the tour of India marks a turning point as Alyssa Healy will lead the side in the absence of Meg Lanning, who continues to remain on an indefinite break. Healy was named the vice-captain of Australia following the retirement of Rachael Haynes.

India’s T20I squad against Australia: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Singh Thakur, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarvani, Devika Vaidya, S Meghana, Richa Ghosh (wk), Harleen Deol.