"It is not clear why she has been picked" - Anjum Chopra on Devika Vaidya's inclusion in India's squad for T20Is vs Australia
Anjum Chopra is unsure if Devika Vaidya merited a place in India's squad for the upcoming T20I series against Australia.
The Indian eves will lock horns with Alyssa Healy and Co. in a five-match series, with the first game to be played at the DY Patil Stadium on Friday, December 9. The series will serve as preparation for the Women's T20 World Cup to be played in South Africa in February next year.
In a video shared on her YouTube channel, Chopra reflected on some of the changes in the Indian squad. Regarding Vaidya's inclusion, she said:
"Devika Vaidya - if we see why the selectors have picked her, you don't see any such numbers. In the Challenger Trophy, I think she played a 40-odd knock and then a 30-odd inning, that too in the middle order, and didn't take too many wickets as well. So it is not clear why she has been picked in the team."
On the flip side, the former Indian skipper reckons Anjali Sarvani could be a good addition, explaining:
"Anjali Sarvani is a young player. The way she bowls left-arm seam and swings the ball both ways, she looks an interesting prospect. She was in excellent form before the pandemic, she picked up 20 wickets while playing for Andhra Pradesh. It seemed at that stage that she has good momentum but COVID came and there was no cricket."
Chopra feels Sarvani getting to play for a formidable team like Railways should hold her in good stead. She stated:
"After that, she got to play for Railways. She picked up 17 wickets in the senior women's domestic tournament and then 10 wickets in the inter-zonal tournament. You get the advantage of playing with a good team because you have competition within the team.
Chopra reckons Sarvani could play as the second seamer alongside Renuka Singh. She reasoned that Pooja Vastrakar is unavailable for the series and Meghna Singh is generally not preferred in the shortest format.
"I am surprised" - Anjum Chopra on Sneh Rana's exclusion
Chopra had contrasting views about Sneh Rana and Dayalan Hemalatha's omission from the Indian squad. The cricketer-turned-commentator observed:
"Dayalan Hemalatha, Pooja Vastrakar and Sneh Rana are not in this squad. Pooja Vastrakar is probably injured and that is why she is not part of this team. Sneh Rana - I am surprised because her team recently won the Challenger Trophy and she was the winning captain. Dayalan Hemalatha - I am assuming is on the basis of performance."
#TeamIndia squad:
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.
Rana has picked up 21 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 6.24 in 22 T20Is and is a handy batter. She returned figures of 2/13 in her four overs in the recent Asia Cup final against Sri Lanka but has been overlooked for the T20Is against Australia.