Selection depends on performances: Harmanpreet Kaur

MUMBAI: In their five T20Is against Australia starting from Friday at the DY Patil Stadium, India have left out off-spin all-rounders Sneh Rana and Dayalan Hemalatha as well as big-hitting batter Kiran Navgire, who was seen as a finisher in the side.

Instead, they have brought in left-arm fast-bowler Anjali Sarvani, who topped the bowling charts in the Senior Women's T20 Trophy (with 17 scalps) and Senior Women's Inter-Zonal T20 Trophy (10 wickets). Alongside her, leg-spin allrounder Devika Vaidya also marks a return to the T20I setup after eight years.

On the eve of the series opener, captain Harmanpreet Kaur said the door to the India T20I team was not closed on Sneh, Dayalan, and Kiran, but that consistent domestic performers like Anjali and Devika have been rewarded with call-ups to the national team.

"The members of the team have performed well, especially the new girls who have done really well in the domestic circuit. If you talk about Anjali, she took the highest wickets and then others have done well too and won matches for their respective teams. Selection depends on your performances and those who have done well are in the side."

"For Sneh Rana and all are good players; in the upcoming tournaments whenever they'll do well, they'll definitely come back. We are always having an eye on them. It's not like if today they are not on the side, we are ignoring them. Definitely they are part of the system and when they perform, they will come back," she said in the pre-match press conference.

When India will play against Australia in the T20I series opener on Friday, the equal pay policy, which was announced in October, will come into effect. As per the policy, India women's players will get INR 15 lakh per Test match, INR 6 lakh per ODI, and INR 3 lakh for a T20I game. Harmanpreet believes that equal pay policy will bring more responsibility on women cricketers.

"It's an outstanding decision taken by the BCCI. As a sportsperson, we always want to get that recognition, and equal pay is something which will bring a lot of motivation for the current players and the upcoming stars. The motivation given by the BCCI that gives us a lot of responsibility now because whenever we go out to play now, we know many people are watching us and want to give our 100 per cent."

"We have played really well, and the last three months have been very special for the way we played. We are looking very positive and with Hrishi sir (Hrishikesh Kanitkar as batting coach) in, he also brings in a lot of positivity." (IANS)

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