Under-19 World Cup winning pacer Shabnam Shakil has been handed her maiden India senior call-up after being named as a late addition to the national squads for the ongoing multi-format series against South Africa.
Shakil, 17, is likely added as a cover or in view of the workload management of India’s frontline pacers. Pooja Vastrakar and Renuka Thakur shared the new-ball duties in the opening ODI of the three-match series currently underway in Bengaluru.
Vastrakar though was a doubtful starter for the ODIs, her selection in the original squad subject to fitness after she reported a shoulder niggle for which the pacer underwent rehab at the NCA in Bengaluru. On Wednesday, in Thakur’s absence in the second ODI – termed as ‘rest’ by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur at toss – Arundhati Reddy received her maiden ODI cap. Thakur, meanwhile, was seen undergoing a fitness test on the sidelines of the team’s pre-match training, under the supervision of team’s S&C coach Anand Date.
For the one-off Test, to be played in Chennai, India’s squad already comprises a fourth pace-bowling option in Meghna Singh besides the three from the ODI squad. Meghna will then make way for pace-bowling allrounder Amanjot Kaur for the three-match T20I series.
Shakil was also in Bengaluru until recently, first as a part of the pacers-specific camp head of the selection for the India squads for the series and then was a part of the Board President’s XI that played a warm-up fixture against the tourists. Only 14 overs of BP XI’s batting were possible in the 50-overs contest before the game was rained out.
After spending the inaugural season on the bench at Gujarat Giants, Shakil made late debut in the 2024 season and picked up four wickets in four WPL games at an economy-rate of 7.