Team India’s top-order batter Punam Raut has failed to make it to the India squad for the Women’s World Cup 2022. The Board of Control for Cricket in India has announced the 15-player squad on Wednesday (December 5) and alongside her, Jemimah Rodrigues and Shikha Pandey have been excluded as well.
However, disappointed by the decision, Punam took to Twitter on Thursday (January 6) and expressed her views. She has so far played 73 ODIs and she did well in ODIs last year. In six ODIs in 2021, Raut smashed 295 runs which came at an average of 73.75. This also includes a ton and two half-centuries.
“Having been considered amongst the experienced batsmen and a consistent run-scorer for India, I’m extremely disappointed at not being a part of the World Cup squad,” Punam wrote in a post on Twitter.
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“In 2021, I averaged 73.75, scoring 295 runs, which included a hundred and two half-centuries in the six ODI games that I played. It is very disheartening to be continuously left out even after performing. Having said that, I would like to extend my best wishes to all the players who will be representing India,” she further added.
However, Punam Raut’s last ODI appearance came against England in Bristol last year. As far as her ODI numbers are concerned, Raut has scored 2299 runs at an average of 34.83. Meanwhile, former India head coach, Tushar Arothe, who guided them to the 2017 World Cup final in England, reckoned that Rodrigues has paid the price for her poor performances in the ODI.
“I’m a bit disappointed that Jemimah won’t be there at the World Cup because she’s a good player, tremendous fielder. But she hasn’t performed well for India in her last five matches. She did well at the women’s Big Bash League [for Melbourne Renegades], but she needed to make the most of the opportunities while playing for the country. Consistency matters at the international level. That’s why Mithali is so great because she consistent across the years,” Arothe told mid-day from Baroda on Thursday.
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India squad for 5 ODIs against NZ & ICC Women’s World Cup, 2022: Mithali Raj (Captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Renuka Singh Thakur, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav.
Standby Players: Sabbhineni Meghana, Ekta Bisht, Simran Dil Bahadur.
