India women have made many changes to their ODI and T20I squads for the series against South Africa – their first international assignment since the final of the T20 World Cup in Australia on March 8, 2020.

They will take the field almost exactly a year later, with the first ODI scheduled at Lucknow’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana International Stadium on March 7.

While the skippers and core players for both squads remain the same, India have made a few changes. Veteran pace bowler Shikha Pandey is absent from both squads, while teen sensation Shafali Verma still waits for her maiden ODI call-up. Wicket-keeper batter Taniya Bhatia has been dropped from the squads.

Left-hand batter Yastika Bhatia, wicket-keeper Swetha Verma, right-arm pace all-rounders Ayushi Soni and Simran Bahadur, left-arm fast bowler Monica Patel and leg-spinning all-rounder C Prathyusha have all received their maiden call-ups to the national side.

“The All-India Women’s Selection Committee has picked the squads for India Women’s upcoming ODI and T20I series against South Africa Women. The series will comprise 5 ODIs and 3 T20Is and will be played at Lucknow’s Bharat Ratna Shree Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana International Stadium,” said the BCCI in a release.

India and South Africa have faced off in 22 ODIs, with India leading the head-to-head 14-7. They also have the upper hand in T20Is, winning seven out of nine encounters against the Proteas.

India women ODI and T20I squads

ODIs: Mithali Raj (c), Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Yastika Bhatia, Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), D. Hemalatha, Deepti Sharma, Sushma Verma (wk), Swetha Verma (wk), Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami, Mansi Joshi, Poonam Yadav, C. Prathyusha, Monica Patel

T20Is: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Harleen Deol, Sushma Verma (wk), Nuzhat Parveen (wk), Ayushi Soni, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, C. Prathyusha, Simran Dil Bahadur