Shafali Verma returns to Radha Yadav-led India A squad for Australia tour

Radha Yadav will lead India A in the multi-format tour of Australia, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) stated while announcing the squads on Thursday (July 10). The announcement will see the return of Shafali Verma to the one-day format, while Shreyanka Patil and Titas Sadhu are in line for a comeback following their layoffs with injuries.

India A will play three T20s and three one-day matches which will be followed by a four-day match from August 7 to August 24, 2025.

Verma last played an ODI against New Zealand in Ahmedabad, in October 2024, and was dropped since due to a poor run of form which saw her score only 108 runs in six ODIs last year. She returned to the T20I side for the ongoing five-match series against England but hadn't made the cut for the three-match ODI series to follow. The series with the A team would be Verma's chance to push for a spot in the squad for the home ODI World Cup later this year.

Meanwhile, Patil is back in the cricketing fray following a long set of injuries which commenced during last year's Women's Asia Cup. She featured in the subsequent T20 World Cup in the UAE but missed the Women's Premier League (WPL), earlier this year. Patil last played for India in ODIs and T20Is in June 2024 and October 2024 respectively. The spin-bowling allrounder's inclusion is pending to medical clearance from the BCCI Centre of Excellence following a fracture she sustained in the national bowlers' camp in Bengaluru last month. Patil has only been named in the T20 squad.

Fast bowler Sadhu, too, returns from an undisclosed injury which she suffered after the WPL. The injury saw her miss India's subsequent tour to Sri Lanka for a tri-series back in April and May this year. Minnu Mani, who captained India A on their last tour of Australia, has been named Radha's deputy.

Legspinner Priya Mishra, who has been named in the one-day and four-day squads, is the other player subject to a fitness clearance from the BCCI CoE.

T20 Squad:Radha Yadav (C), Minnu Mani (VC), Shafali Verma, D. Vrinda, Sajana Sajeevan, Uma Chetry (WK), Raghvi Bist, Shreyanka Patil*, Prema Rawat, Nandini Kashyap (WK), Tanuja Kanwer, Joshita VJ, Shabnam Shakeel, Saima Thakor, Titas Sadhu

One-Day and Multi-Day Squad:Radha Yadav (C), Minnu Mani (VC), Shafali Verma, Tejal Hasabnis, Raghvi Bist, Tanushree Sarkar, Uma Chetry (WK), Priya Mishra*, Tanuja Kanwer, Nandini Kashyap (WK), Dhara Gujjar, Joshita VJ, Shabnam Shakeel, Saima Thakor, Titas Sadhu

*subject to fitness clearance from BCCI Centre of Excellence (COE)

The three T20s will be played in Mackay from August 7 to 10 with the one-dayers to follow from August 13 to 17 in Brisbane. The tour will end with the multi-day clash at the Allan Border Field in Queensland.