The right-arm pacer has scalped 38 wickets in the 50-over format.
The Indian Women’s Cricket team has sprung a surprise in their very first fixture of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025. The Women in Blue are locking horns against neighbours Sri Lanka in the opener of the coveted tournament. However, speedster Renuka Singh has not been included in the playing XI of the Indian side.
Having said that, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur mentioned at the toss that all players were fit. This could mean that not including the pacer might have something to do with the team combination. Additionally, Arundhati Reddy also missed out from India’s playing XI for the fixture against the Sri Lankans.
The Women in Blue are coming into the World Cup with some good cricketing action behind themselves. The Indians lost the three-match ODI series to Australia at home. But there were plenty of positives to take from the fixture. And the Indians would be confident of their chances in the tournament.
Given her ability to rattle top-order batters in the air and off the deck, leaving her out is a surprise. To add to that, she played the second ODI against Australia. Not just that, she bowled well in the powerplay, ending with figures of 1/28 in 6.3 overs. She played in the third ODI as well, but went for 79 runs and picked two wickets in the bargain.
The Indian fast bowler has had a history of injuries, and comebacks aren’t a new thing for her anymore. In December 2024, she was sidelined with a stress fracture which kept her out of the game for a considerable amount of time. However, after a history of making comebacks, Renuka is once again set to play for India in a World Cup, where she can make a bigger impact.
In 21 ODIs till now, the 29-year-old has managed to scalp 38 wickets, with the best of 5/29. To add to that, she possesses a solitary five-wicket haul and has ended with four wickets on as many occasions in her ODI career. Her economy in the 50-over format is 5.03, which is impressive considering that she bowls most of her overs in the powerplay. Renuka will add a good amount of experience in India’s campaign for the World Cup.
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India XI: Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana, Kranti Goud, Shree Charani
Sri Lanka XI: Chamari Athapaththu (capt), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshika Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Sugandika Kumari, Achini Kulasuriya, Udeshika Prabodhani, Inoka Ranaweera
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