Shabnam Shakil added to India Women’s squad for ongoing multi-format series against South Africa
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the addition of Shabnam Shakil to India’s squad for all formats in the ongoing series against Laura Wolvaardt-led South Africa. The two sides are currently playing in the ODI series, and are scheduled to play a one-off Test next, followed by a three-match T20I series.
17-year-old Shakil was recently seen playing for Gujarat Giants in the second edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL). The Visakhapatnam-born fast bowler is yet to make her debut for the senior national team and was part of India’s title-winning U-19 World Cup team.
She became the youngest debutant in WPL history when Gujarat Giants, who roped her in at her base price of INR 10 lakh, handed her the cap. Shakil’s standout performance at WPL 2024 came in the 18th match of the tournament between Gujarat and UP Warriorz.
Defending their 152-run total, skipper Beth Mooney placed her trust in Shabnam Shakil and the latter stood up to the team’s expectations. She let the ball do the talking and registered match-winning figures of 3/11 in her four-over spell to bag the Player of the Match award.
Shakil’s victims included the dangerous Alyssa Healy, Chamari Athapaththu, and Shweta Sehrawat. Courtesy of her eye-catching spell, Gujarat Giants defeated UPW by eight runs as Deepti Sharma’s 88*(60) went in vain.
India’s updated ODI squad for three-match ODI series: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (WK), Uma Chetry (WK), Dayalan Hemalatha, Radha Yadav, Asha Sobhana, Shreyanka Patil, Saika Ishaque, Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Singh Thakur, Arundhati Reddy, Priya Punia, Shabnam Shakil.
India’s updated Test squad for one-off Test: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Shubha Satheesh, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (WK), Uma Chetry (WK), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Saika Ishaque, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Meghna Singh, Priya Punia, Shabnam Shakil.
India’s updated squad for three-match T20I series: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Dayalan Hemalatha, Uma Chetry (WK), Richa Ghosh (WK), Jemimah Rodrigues, Sajana Sajeevan, Deepti Sharma, Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav, Amanjot Kaur, Asha Sobhana, Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Singh Thakur, Arundhati Reddy, Shabnam Shakil.
Standby: Saika Ishaque
India take an unassailable 2-0 lead in ODI series against South Africa
Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. put up brilliant performances in the two concluded ODIs to grab victories in both and seal the three-match 50-over series with a game to spare. Smriti Mandhana was the wrecker-in-chief for the Indian side as she notched up back-to-back centuries.
While other batters failed to put up a show, Mandhana took the onus of scoring runs in the first ODI and racked up 117 runs off 127 deliveries to get her first ODI century on home soil. Asha Sobhana’s four-wicket haul in the second essay held the visitors to 122 in 37.4 overs as India bagged a thumping victory.
The second ODI turned out to be a thriller, with the game going down the wire to the final ball. The game saw the first instance of four batters notching up a century in the history of women’s ODIs as Mandhana, Indian skipper Kaur, South African skipper Wolvaardt, and Proteas all-rounder Marizanne Kapp crossed the three-figure mark.
South Africa came very close to pulling off a historic chase, but Pooja Vastrakar’s brilliance in the final over saw India crossing the line in a nail-biting finish. After picking up two consecutive wickets in the over, Vastrakar defended five runs off the last delivery as India won the encounter by four runs.