Bharti Fulmali will pull on an India shirt for the first time since 2019, and off-spinner Shreyanka Patil is back after an injury-hit 2025, as selectors named the women’s T20I and ODI squads for next month’s trip to Australia.
The basics first. Harmanpreet Kaur stays in charge, three T20Is and three ODIs run from 15 February to 1 March, and a standalone Test in Perth follows (6-9 March). The Test party, the BCCI stressed, “will be announced later”.
Fulmali’s recall feels earned. The Vidarbha batter has lit up the current WPL: 92 runs in four knocks, strike-rate touching 192, on top of last season’s 133 off just 77 balls. That up-tick contrasted sharply with her 2023 returns (64 off 53), yet the selectors appear to have parked those early numbers. For context, the 28-year-old debuted against England in Guwahati seven summers ago and has managed only two caps since.
Patil, meanwhile, last played international cricket at the 2024 T20 World Cup – also against Australia – before a shoulder issue kept her off the park for nearly a year. A stint with Barbados Royals at last September’s WCPL proved she was fit, and eight wickets in four WPL matches, including a five-for, made the case for re-selection hard to ignore.
Not everyone has been so lucky. Harleen Deol keeps her ODI place but is omitted from the T20Is, while wicketkeeper Uma Chetry, seamer Arundhati Reddy and left-arm spinner Radha Yadav all drop out of the 50-over set-up that lifted the World Cup. Reddy, though, clings onto a T20I berth. “We’re looking at role clarity in shorter formats,” one selector said quietly afterwards, indicating they still value the seamer’s new-ball nous.
New faces? Seventeen-year-old keeper-bat G Kamalini and left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma step up to the ODI squad after tasting T20I cricket in Sri Lanka just before Christmas. Kashvee Gautam, recalled to the 50-over group, last played for India in May’s tri-series with South Africa and Sri Lanka.
Squads in full
T20Is: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), G Kamalini (wk), Arundhati Reddy, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Bharti Fulmali, Shreyanka Patil.
ODIs: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), G Kamalini (wk), Kashvee Gautam, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol.
Quick analysis, minus the buzzwords. India’s batting core remains intact; the selectors have tinkered only around the edges. Fulmali adds late-innings power, Patil strengthens the spin attack, and Kamalini’s promotion eases the workload on Richa Ghosh. The bowling mix looks varied enough for Australian conditions, though depth at the death – especially if Renuka Thakur doesn’t hit rhythm early – may still be a talking point.
And, yes, eyes will turn to Perth. The Test squad announcement is still pending, so there’s room for a couple more narratives to develop before the flight out.
