Tuesday, 19th August, also saw the announcement of the India women's team for the 2025 ODI World Cup, with the squad for the preceding ODI series against Australia also revealed. This announcement ran parallel to the men's squad selection, featuring similar narratives of comebacks and omissions.
The women's squad, led by Harmanpreet Kaur with Smriti Mandhana as her deputy, included the pacer Renuka Singh Thakur despite recent injury concerns. This decision mirrored the selection of Bumrah in the men's team, showing a willingness to back key players with a track record of success. "Renuka has been a precious player for us. She had niggles and been out of the game, but is available. She is our main player. This is a main event, great she’s part of the team." said chief selctor, Neetu David.
On the other hand, opener Shafali Verma was a notable omission from the main squad. Women's chief selector Neetu David explained that Verma is still a part of the team's plans but needs more experience in the 50-over format to secure a spot, highlighting a similar emphasis on consistency and player development seen in the men's selection. "Shafali played the Australia A series. She’s in the system, not like she’s not. We’ve got our eyes on her. Hope she plays a lot more and garners experience, it’ll help India in the 50-overs format", she added.
Skipper Harmanpreet spoke of the much needed balance, for going deep into the tournament, and backed her players, while also hailing the coach Amol Mazumdar for bringing in the stability that was essential. "We have Renuka and Kranti in the PowerPlay, have Shree Charani, Deepti and Radha to bowl in the slog overs and Sneh Rana in the middle overs. We didn’t want to make a lot of changes, we wanted continuity."
