IND vs SL: Teenagers Kamalini and Vaishnavi Sharma have been handed maiden India call-ups into a squad for next month’s five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka as India begin to look ahead to the next generation of women’s cricket. Radha Yadav, Yastika Bhatia, and Sayali Satghare, meanwhile, all part of the squad that toured England last month, have been left out.
Kamalini’s Rapid Rise After a Breakout Year
Seventeen-year-old wicketkeeper-batter G Kamalini has been one of the most impressive young talents in Indian cricket. Her sparkling performances in the U-19 Asia Cup 2024, followed by a WPL contract, saw her feature in nine matches for the Mumbai Indians earlier this year.
She is known for her clean ball-striking, Kamalini did manage an unbeaten 11 off 8, including the match-winning boundary, against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Mumbai Indians showed trust in her abilities by retaining her services for INR 50 lakh ahead of the WPL 2026 auction.
Her fine domestic form continued as she finished sixth on the run-scorers list in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy, compiling 297 runs across seven matches.
Vaishnavi Sharma: Domestic Wicket-Taking Machine
Nineteen-year-old left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma has been one of the most dominant bowlers in domestic cricket. She finished as the top wicket-taker in the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy with 21 wickets from 11 games for Madhya Pradesh.
Her form carried over into the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal T20s, in which she took 12 wickets in only five matches for Central Zone.
The breakout year for Vaishnavi also saw her feature in India’s U-19 World Cup-winning campaign, where she emerged as the top wicket-taker with 17 scalps along with fellow debutant Kamalini.
IND vs SL: Experienced Names Left Out
Left-arm spinner Radha Yadav, who was a part of India’s recent ODI World Cup-winning squad, has not been retained despite picking four wickets in three games in the tournament. She was brought in to replace Shuchi Upadhyay for the tour of England and managed six wickets across five T20Is.
Read More
Wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia remains on the sidelines while recovering from a knee injury that kept her out of the World Cup and has not played any form of competitive cricket since August. The other absentee is Sayali Satghare.
Series Schedule & Leadership
Harmanpreet Kaur will be leading the otherwise stable squad, with Smriti Mandhana as the vice-captain. This will be followed by a five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka starting on December 21 and 23 in Visakhapatnam, then Thiruvananthapuram hosts the remaining matches on December 26, 28, and 30.
Complete India T20I Squad vs Sri Lanka
Harmanpreet Kaur (capt)
Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain)
Deepti Sharma
Sneh Rana
Jemimah Rodrigues
Shafali Verma
Harleen Deol
Amanjot Kaur
Arundhati Reddy
Kranti Gaud
Renuka Singh Thakur
Richa Ghosh (wk)
G Kamalini (wk)
N Sree Charani Vaishnavi Sharma
ALSO READ: Youngest Captains In International Cricket All Format: Featuring Rashid Khan
