India's Punam Raut disheartened at being left out of World Cup squad; lists reasons why

A 15-member squad of the Indian women's cricket team for the ICC ODI World Cup was announced by the BCCI on Thursday, with several known names being left out. The exclusion of youngster Jemimah Rodrigues, all-rounder Shikha Pandey and batter Punam Raut came as a surprise for many as speculations grew on why the selectors decided to do so. 

Now, Punam Raut has issued a statement and expressed her disappointment for being left out of the World Cup squad. Taking to her official Twitter handle, the right-handed batter said that in 2021, she averaged 73.75 with the bat in the six ODI games she played and scored 295 runs which included a hundred and two half-centuries. 

'Extremely disappointed at not being a part of the World Cup squad': Punam Raut

"It is very disheartening to be continuously left out even after performing," she said. The 32-year old also extended her best wishes to all the players representing India in the tournament to be held in New Zealand from March 4 to April 3. 

Raut has represented India in 73 ODIs and scored 2299 runs at an average of 34.83 with a strike rate of 58.26. This includes 3 centuries and 15 half-centuries. 

Shikha Pandey posted a tweet with a heartbroken emoji, along with a blog where she has narrated how much cricket means to her. 

Commentator Harsha Bhogle also reacted to the selection and said, "Disappointments for some, joy for others in the squad for the Women's World Cup. Your time will come Jemimah Rodrigues."  

Meanwhile, veteran Mithali Raj will lead the last edition's runner-up side with Harmanpreet Kaur as her deputy. The 39-year-old Mithali has announced that she would chalk out her retirement plans after the mega-event. 

A BCCI source confirmed to PTI that Rodrigues and Shikha Pandey have been "dropped" on account of their form in the ODI format.

As per a PTI report, Rodrigues failed to hit the double-figure mark during the last year in all the international assignments she was a part of but was in good touch during The Hundred tournament in England and the subsequent Big Bash League in Australia. Pandey was similarly off-colour during her national duties.

The same 15-member squad will also feature in a five-ODI series against New Zealand from February 11 to 24.

India will open their World Cup campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan on March 6 at the Bay Oval, Tauranga before facing hosts New Zealand on March 10 at Hamilton, followed by the West Indies (March 12, Hamilton), defending champions England (March 16, Tauranga), Australia (March 19, Auckland), Bangladesh (March 22, Hamilton) and South Africa (March 27, Christchurch).

In the last edition of the tournament in 2017, India narrowly missed out on creating history as they lost by nine runs to hosts England in the title clash. 

In a meeting held on Wednesday, the All India Women's Selection Committee also named a 16-member squad to be led by Harmanpreet Kaur for the lone T20 International against New Zealand to be played on February 9 before the ODIs. 

The one-off T20 and the first ODI against New Zealand will be hosted by Napier, followed by the remaining 50-over games in Nelson on February 14 and 16, and Queenstown on February 22 and 24.

The Squads:

ICC Women's World Cup 2022 & New Zealand ODIs: Mithali Raj (C), Harmanpreet Kaur (VC), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (WK), Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav.

Standby Players: Sabbhineni Meghana, Ekta Bisht, Simran Dil Bahadur.    

One-off T20I against New Zealand: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (WK), Sneh Rana, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Sabbhineni Meghna, Simran Dil Bahadur. 

(With PTI inputs)

Image: BCCI