Visakhapatnam, Dec 19 (IANS) After a triumphant campaign in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025, the Indian women’s team has returned to the BCCI Centre of Excellence to focus on the five-match T20I series against Sri Lanka Women, starting on Sunday (Dec 21) in Visakhapatnam.

The core group that lifted the ODI World Cup trophy in Navi Mumbai last month continues to feature in the T20I squad.

On Friday, the entire squad sweated it out in an intense training session in Vizag ahead of the series opener.

Renuka Thakur, who missed the previous T20I series against England due to injury, returns to the lineup after a successful ODI World Cup campaign. The squad also sees the inclusion of 19-year-old Vaishnavi Sharma, who earns her maiden call-up in the T20I side.

The young spinner, who was the leading wicket-taker in this year’s ICC Under-19 Women’s Cricket World Cup, claiming 17 wickets with India securing their second consecutive title, had a special birthday celebration after the practice session.

The series marks the first assignment for Harmanpreet Kaur and her team since their ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025 triumph last month. It will put the two teams on the road to next year’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to kick off on June 1 in England and Wales.

India’s last T20I assignment came during their tour of England in early July, where the visitors clinched the series 3-2.

India has a dominant record against Sri Lanka with 20 wins in 26 matches, with the visitors’ last victory in India coming way back in 2014. Coincidentally, that win had also come in Vishakhapatnam, the venue for the first two games in the upcoming T20I series.

The Indian women’s cricket team will be taking the field for the first time it defeated South Africa in the final of the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup at the Dr D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Smriti Mandhana (VC), Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Harleen Deol, Amanjot Kaur, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh Thakur, Richa Ghosh (WK), G Kamalini (WK), Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma

–IANS

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