England Women announce squad of 14 for T20 series against India, Lauren Bell earns maiden call-up

London [UK], September 6 : England Women's cricket on Tuesday announced a 14-member squad for the international T20 series against India which gets underway in Durham on September 10.
There are two differences between this squad and the one that competed in the Commonwealth Games. Heather Knight is still recovering from a hip injury, and Katherine Brunt, England's leading IT20 wicket-taker, will skip the series to focus on rest and recovery.
Lauren Bell, who wins her maiden IT20 call-up, replaces Katherine Brunt in the squad.
England Women Head Coach Lisa Keightley, who will take charge of her last series before returning home to Australia said, "I'm excited about finishing my time with this team with a fascinating series against India. They're a great side and we'll have to be at our best to win."
Speaking on Katherine's decision to opt out of the series, she said, "After discussions with Katherine she felt the best thing for her was to rest across both the T20 and ODI series. We fully support that decision with a view to maximising her mental and physical recovery off the back of what has been an intense year so far."
"That provides an opportunity for Lauren Bell, who was impressive in The Hundred, and with her, Alice Capsey, Freya Kemp and Issy Wong in the squad we're starting to see a group of exciting young players who have the chance to cement their place in the England team", said the coach.
The squad for the team is as follows: Nat Sciver (Northern Diamonds, captain), Lauren Bell (Southern Vipers), Maia Bouchier (Southern Vipers), Alice Capsey (South East Stars), Kate Cross (Thunder), Freya Davies (South East Stars), Sophia Dunkley (South East Stars), Sophie Ecclestone (Thunder), Sarah Glenn (Central Sparks), Amy Jones (Central Sparks), Freya Kemp (Southern Vipers), Bryony Smith (South East Stars), Issy Wong (Central Sparks), Danni Wyatt (Southern Vipers)
India will play three T20Is and three ODIs in England starting September 10, 2022.
Indian team is heading to England after clinching a silver medal in their first-ever outing in the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham. They lost to Australia by nine runs in a thrilling final and had to settle for the second position.
India and England last met each other in a match at the semi-final of the T20 competition held at the Commonwealth Games 2022. India won the last-over thriller by four runs.
The T20I series will start on September 10 and will go on till September 15. The three-match ODI series will start on September 18 and will go on till September 24.
India's ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (Vice-Captain), Shafali Verma, Sabbineni Meghana, Deepti Sharma, Taniyaa Sapna Bhatia (WK), Yastika Bhatia (WK), Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Renuka Thakur, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Harleen Deol, Dayalan Hemalatha, Simran Dil Bahadur, Jhulan Goswami, Jemimah Rodrigues
India's T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (Vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Jemimah Rodrigues, Sneh Rana, Renuka Thakur, Meghna Singh, Radha Yadav, Sabbineni Meghana, Taniyaa Sapna Bhatia (WK), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Dayalan Hemalatha, Simran Dil Bahadur, Richa Ghosh (WK), KP Navgire