India women’s cricket squad for Asian Games 2022: Team news; Harmanpreet suspended for two matches, Mandhana to lead

Smriti Mandhana will lead the India women’s cricket team at the 2022 Asian Games after Harmanpreet Kaur received a two-match suspension by the ICC due to her outburst in an ODI against Bangladesh.

Published : Sep 18, 2023 21:29 IST , Chennai - 1 MIN READ

Smriti Mandhana (L) will captain the side after Harmanpreet Kaur received a two-match suspension. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Indian women’s cricket team will be playing in its first Asian Games at Hangzhou as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 20-member squad and five standby players.

The event will be played in the T20 format, from September 28 to October 8, with all matches scheduled to take place at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field.

The India women’s cricket squad will be captained by Smriti Mandhana. Harmanpreet Kaur was initially supposed to lead the team. However, she will miss two matches after being suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for her outburst in an ODI against Bangladesh.

“Harmanpreet Kaur has been suspended for the next two international matches following two separate breaches of the ICC Code of Conduct,” said the ICC in a statement.

Other notable names to make the cut are Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh among others.

Before Hangzhou, cricket was played at the Asian Games twice – at Guangzhou, in 2010 and Incheon, in 2014. Pakistan won the women’s events by beating Bangladesh in the final in both editions.

This is the second time the Indian women’s cricket team will play at a multi-sport event after the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. India women won a silver medal after losing to Australia in the final.

India women’s cricket squad
Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Amanjot Kaur, Devika Vaidya, Pooja Vastrakar, Titas Sadhu, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Minnu Mani, Kanika Ahuja, Uma Chetry (wicket-keeper), Anusha Bareddy
Standby players: Harleen Deol, Kashvee Gautam, Sneh Rana, Saika Ishaque