Minnu Mani to lead India A squad for England A T20s

Allrounder Minnu Mani will lead the 16-member India A squad for the three-match T20 series against England A, BCCI announced on Friday (November 24). The India A side will take on their England counterparts from November 29 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Kerala's Minnu made her India debut during the tour of Bangladesh and has played four T20Is while picking up five wickets. She was also part of the squad that won Gold at the Asian Games 2022 in China in September this year. Apart from the 24-year-old, India A squad comprises of four internationals in Kanika Ahuja, Monica Patel, slow left-arm spinners Anusha Bareddy and Rashi Kanojiya. 

Uma Chetry, who was the reserve wicket-keeper in the Asian Games, has been named in the 16-member squad along with Karnataka and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) allrounder Shreyanka Patil. Patil was the player of the series when India won the Emerging Women's T20 Asia Cup. 

Punjab's Mannat Kashyap is the third left-arm spinner in the squad that has gone spin heavy with only three pace bowling options. Kashyap was part of India's inaugural Under-19 World Cup winning squad early this year alongside Hyderbad batter G Trisha. Mumbai's Prakashika Naik is the only frontline leg spinner in the side.

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Apart from Trisha, Karnataka's Vrinda Dinesh and Vidarbha captain Disha Kasat are the other prominent batters in the side. Both Vrinda and Kasat had a successful stint with their respective sides during the recently concluded Senior Women's T20 Trophy for the 2023-24 season. 

Kasat scored 263 runs at an average of 43.83 and a strike rate of 127.05 from six matches in the tournament whereas Vrinda impressed everyone with her striking ability when she made 211 runs at an average of 35.17 and a strike rate of 154.01.

Among the pacers, Chandigarh's Kashvee Gautham had a rapid rise in recent times and has been impressive in the opportunities she got. In the Senior Women's T20 Trophy, Gautham picked up 12 wickets at a bowling average of 9.33 from seven matches. In the opening match of the Inter Zonal T20 Trophy, the allrounder returned with enviable figures of 5 for 8 including a hat-trick for North Zone against North Zone. The third member of the pace trio in the squad is Assam's Jintimani Kalita. The 19-year-old has been part of the trophy winning Mumbai Indians side during the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) in March 2023.

England A will reach India on November 25 and the T20s will be played on November 29, December 1 and 3 at the Wankhede Stadium.

India A squad: Minnu Mani (c), Kanika Ahuja, Uma Chetry (wk), Shreyanka Patil, G Trisha, Vrinda Dinesh, Divya Gnanananda, Arushi Goel, Disha Kasat, Rashi Kanojiya, Mannat Kashyap, Anusha Bareddy, Monica Patel, Kashvee Gautham, Jintimani Kalita, Prakashika Naik