Amanjot Kaur Ignored, Harmanpreet Kaur To Lead As India Announces Squad For 2026 Women's T20 World Cup

Women's T20 World Cup 2026: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Women has announced 15-member squad for the upcoming Women's T20 World Cup which is scheduled to take place in England later this year. The Women in Blue will start their campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on June 14 in Birmingham.

The core players who were the part of the team were expected to get selected as Harmanpreet Kaur is the captain and Smriti Mandhana is the vice-captain. Amita Sharma, who is the selector of the women's senior team revealed in the press conference that their main aim is to solidify their bowling lineup post their 4-1 series loss to South Africa. 

From that team, Kashvee Gautam, Uma  Chhetry were snubbed and were replaced by fast bowler Nandini Shharma, Radha Yadav and wicket-keeper battter Yastika Bhatia. Amita emphasised that Kashvee had sustained a serious knee injury and will be undergoing surgery. 

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Nandini had got her maiden India call-up. Harmanpreet lauded her performances during WPL 2026. 

Fast bowler all-rounder Amanjot Kaur too has been dropped owing to fitness concerns. Harmanpreet highlighted during the press conference that its quiet difficult to replace her in the side as even her substitute Kashvee had sustained an injury. Harleen Deol mis another noticeable omission as both the captain and the selector had opined that Bharti Fulmali deserves to be in the team as she bats brilliantly  at No.6 or No.7 position. 

India’s 2026 T20 World Cup squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), a proven match-winner; Smriti Mandhana (VC), a consistent top-order batter; Shafali Verma, a powerful opener; Jemimah Rodrigues, a reliable middle-order anchor; Deepti Sharma, an all-rounder; Richa Ghosh (WK), a dynamic wicketkeeper-batter; Yastika Bhatika (WK), another strong keeping option; Nandini Sharma, Renuka Thakur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani, Bharti Fulmali, Shreyanka Patil, and Radha Yadav, who add depth in both batting and bowling.

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 India Women’s 2026 T20 World Cup schedule