Women's T20 World Cup 2020: Harmanpreet Kaur to lead India's 15-member squad in Australia

The Indian women's cricket team announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia.

Harmanpreet Kaur is set to lead India's squad which includes the 15-year-old Shafali Verma.

Verma had an excellent T20 Challenger Trophy in India as she finished with 189 runs at 47.25. She struck the ball at 156.20 in the tournament and notched up a terrific 48-ball 89* in the final to lead India C to victory.

As for the others, Bengal's rookie batswoman Richa Ghosh is the only new face in the list. Richa too made an impactful impression in the recent women's Challenger Trophy, scoring 36 off 26 balls in one of the games with four boundaries and a six.

As for India's matches, they are placed in Group A along with hosts Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Group B includes England, South Africa, the West Indies, Pakistan and Thailand.

Squad Announcement@ImHarmanpreet will lead India's charge at @T20WorldCup #T20WorldCup #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/QkpyypyJKc

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) January 12, 2020

India will play hosts and defending champions Australia in the opening match of the tournament at Sydney Showground Stadium on February 21.

Not just the World Cup squad, the selectors also announced a 16-member squad for a tri-series in Australia prior to the T20 World Cup.

Nuzhat Parveen has been added as the 16th member. That tournament starts on January 31 and also features England.

World T20 Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodriguez, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Veda Krishnamurthy, Richa Ghosh, Tania Bhatia, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gaikwad, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy.

Tri-Series (16 member) Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodriguez, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Veda Krishnamurthy, RichaGhosh, Tania Bhatia, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gaikwad, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Nuzhat Parveen.