India will head into both the Australia one-day series and the 2025 Women’s World Cup without Yastika Bhatia after the left-hander damaged her left knee in Visakhapatnam last week. The injury, picked up during a routine fielding drill, has been confirmed as serious enough to rule her out for the rest of the year.
Uma Chetry, originally listed among the standbys, has been promoted to the main squad for both campaigns. The 23-year-old from Assam has seven T20I caps but is still waiting for an ODI debut. Because she joins the senior group, she has been withdrawn from the India A side due to face South Africa in a World Cup warm-up on 28 September.
Bhatia’s last ODI appearance came in October 2024, when she deputised for Richa Ghosh. Selectors were impressed by her recent India A tour of Australia—scores of 59, 66 and 42 underlined her progress—but the latest setback ends her World Cup hopes.
Head coach Amol Muzumdar said simply, “It’s unfortunate, but injuries are part of the game. Yastika will get the best possible care, and Uma now has a chance to show what she can do.”
India open their World Cup campaign against Sri Lanka in Guwahati on 30 September. Between now and then, attention turns to a three-match home series versus Australia that should help finalise roles and combinations.
Updated India squad v Australia
Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Renuka Singh Thakur, Arundhati Reddy, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare, Radha Yadav, Sree Charani, Sneh Rana, Uma Chetry (wk)
Stand-bys: Tejal Hasabnis, Prema Rawat, Priya Mishra
Updated India squad for Women’s ODI World Cup
Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Renuka Singh Thakur, Arundhati Reddy, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kranti Gaud, Amanjot Kaur, Radha Yadav, Sree Charani, Sneh Rana, Uma Chetry (wk)
Stand-bys: Tejal Hasabnis, Prema Rawat, Priya Mishra, Minnu Mani, Sayali Satghare
India A (revised) for warm-ups
Minnu Mani (capt), Dhara Gujjar, Shafali Verma, Tejal Hasabnis, Vrinda Dinesh, Nandini Kashyap (wk), Tanushree Sarkar, Tanuja Kanwar, Titas Sadhu, Sayali Satghare, Saima Thakor, Prema Rawat, Priya Mishra, Raghvi Bist
Bhatia now begins rehab in Bengaluru under the BCCI medical team. The selectors will hope the reshuffle is the last before a demanding home World Cup, but as Muzumdar noted, “Plans are important—flexibility is just as vital.”
