U19 Women's World Cup 2023: Yashasri Soppadhandhi replaces Hurley Gala in Indian squad

The Event Technical Committee of the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 has approved Yashasri Soppadhandhi as a replacement for Hurley Gala in the India squad.

Soppadhandhi was named as a replacement after Gala was ruled out following the laceration of her right thumb which required stitches and ruled her out of participating in the remainder of the tournament.  

The replacement of a player requires the approval of the Event Technical Committee before the replacement player can be officially added to the squad.

The Event Technical committee of the ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 consists of Sarah Edgar (Chair), ICC Senior Manager Event Operations, Snehal Pradhan, ICC Women’s Cricket Manager, Sivuyile Mqingwana, Tournament Director, Claire Terblanche, (Cricket South Africa), Lydia Greenway (Independent), Stacy-Ann King (Independent).

At the ongoing U19 Women's World Cup 2023, India have played two games so far, one each against South Africa and the United Arab Emirates. Hurley was benched in both the games, and was eventually ruled out of the tournament ahead of India's third contest against Scotland. 

Hyderabad seamer Yashasri Soppadhandhi was a part of the Indian U19 side that faced South Africa in a six-match T20I series before the U19 World Cup commenced. Of the four completed games, she was a part of two games and picked up four wickets, including a three-wicket haul. She had a tremendous outing with the ball, and will be expected to repeat similar heroics as India aim to make it big at the tournament.

The upcoming game against Scotland will be India's last in the group stage as the top three teams from the group will move to the Super Six stage. India currently stand on top of Group D with two wins and zero losses in the tournament so far. They are the only undefeated team in their group and are th eleading contenders to make it to the Super Six.

India's updated squad for U19 World Cup:

Shafali Verma (captain), Shweta Sehrawat (vice-captain), Richa Ghosh (wk), G Trisha, Soumya Tiwari, Sonia Mendhiya, Yashasri Soppadhandhi, Hrishita Basu (wk), Sonam Yadav, Mannat Kashyap, Archana Devi, Parshavi Chopra, Titas Sadhu, Falak Naz, Shabnam MD.