'Some without playing have been exchanged' - Anjum Chopra raises questions on India's squad for Asian Games 2023

Former India cricketer Anjum Chopra has been left baffled by the team selection for the Asian Games 2023. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have named a 15-member squad for the quadrennial sporting scheduled to take place from September 19, at Hangzhou, in China. 

The former India captain compared the Asian games  squad with the one that recently played the T20I series in Bangladesh and questioned why some players have been excluded despite not getting a chance.

"The recent team announcement for the Asian Games later this year is perplexing. About 6 changes from the T20I squad that is sent to Bangladesh. Some without playing have been exchanged and why the others remain a question mark. They couldn’t have been injured,” Chopra wrote in her column for IANS.

The Indian team will be led by Harmanpreet Kaur with Smriti Mandhana acting as her deputy. Talented speedster Titas Sadhu who shone in India’s victorious campaign at the inaugural U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa has been rewarded for her performance. On the other hand, spinner Minnu Mani who picked up five wickets in the T20I series against Bangladesh has also retained her place.

Wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh is also back in the team while Yastika Bhatia has been dropped. However, the most surprising exclusion is of the seamer Renuka Singh Thakur, who finished as the highest wicket-taker at the Commonwealth Games 2022 with 11 wickets in five matches.

Notably, the women's category in Asian games will feature 14 matches, with 14 teams going against each other. All the matches of the cricket event will be played at the Zhejiang University of Technology Pingfeng Cricket Field.

Pakistan are defending champions in Asian Games' women's cricket event

It will be for the third time that Cricket will be a part of the Asian Games. The sport has been featured twice before at the sporting extravaganza namely at Guangzhou, in 2010, and Incheon, in 2014. On both occasions, Pakistan won the women’s events by beating Bangladesh in the final.

The India Women’s team will take part in a multi-sport event for the second time after they won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022, in Birmingham.