India named a 15-strong squad for Asian Games 2026 on Tuesday, June 30, and made just one change to the side that was recently knocked out of the Women's T20 World Cup.
Harmanpreet Kaur will continue leading India amidst questions over her future and captaincy after their group-stage exit from the Women's T20 World Cup 2026. Notably, there is only one change from the World Cup squad, with the selectors dropping Yastika Bhatia for 17-year-old G Kamalini for the back-up wicketkeeper role.
Bhatia endured a tough tournament, scoring only 41 runs in three innings at an average of 13.66 and a strike rate of 117.14, while being moved up and down the batting order. Her replacement, Kamalini has played just one T20I so far in her career, featuring against Sri Lanka in December 2025.
The teenager also finished as the third-highest run-getter at last year's U19 Women’s T20 World Cup with 143 runs in seven innings while opening the batting, including a 56-run knock in the semi-final against England. She has also played under Harmanpreet for the Mumbai Indians in WPL, scoring 107 runs in 10 innings across two seasons.
Shreyanka Patil, who was ruled out of the World Cup after picking up an ankle ligament injury against the Netherlands, has been picked as well, but her availability is subject to a fitness clearance. Her replacement for the tournament, Prema Rawat, was not included in the Asian Games squad.
The Asian Games women’s cricket competition will be played from September 17 to 22. Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and China are the other sides that have earned qualification. India are the defending champions, having won the gold medal in the 2023 Asian Games after beating Sri Lanka in the final.
India squad for 2026 Asian Games
Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), G Kamalini (wk), Bharti Fulmali, Sree Charani, Renuka Singh, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil*, Radha Yadav, Nandani Sharma.
*subject to fitness clearance
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