The absence of those two allrounders made way for spin-bowling allrounder Radha, who had also toured England for the bilateral tour of England last summer, but had been dropped after that.
Bharti Fulmali was retained in the side after she got two innings in South Africa, where she scored 40 and 2 at No. 5. That means there was no place for Anushka Sharma and reserve wicketkeeper Uma Chetry.
The same squad will also play the three bilateral T20Is to be played against England on May 28, May 30 and June 2.
Bhatia has been out of action with a long-term injury. She last played for India A in Australia in August 2025 and later underwent an ACL surgery in October. She has played 18 T20Is, the last of which was in April 2024.
This is a maiden international call-up for Nandani, who shone with her fast-bowling skills in the last WPL, where she represented runners-up Delhi Capitals. She played all ten games for DC and was the joint-top wicket-taker along with Sophie Devine, with 17 scalps after impressing with her accuracy and variations. In just her second match of the WPL, she picked up a hat-trick against Gujarat Giants, becoming the first Indian uncapped player in the tournament to do so, and finished with five wickets in that match. After that, she was also picked for the India A squad for the Asia Cup Rising Stars in Thailand in February.
“Luckily we have got really good options even after some of our Plan A players got injured,” Harmanpreet said when asked about Nandani’s inclusion.
When the chief selector was asked what prompted the changes after the South Africa tour, Amita said:”Bowling department let us down in South Africa. We were not able to take wickets. As you saw, one main batter of theirs [Laura Wolvaardt] scored the most in the series. So we have tried to strengthen the bowling by adding a couple of bowlers. The idea with the coach and captain was to take early wickets.”
Radha’s return brings experience in the spin-bowling department which also includes Deepti Sharma, Shree Charani and Shreyanka Patil. Radha has played 89 T20Is and has taken 103 wickets since her debut in 2018 and will be playing her fifth T20 World Cup.
India’s pace-bowling options feature Renuka Singh, Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud and Nandani.
India’s campaign begins on June 14 against Pakistan in Birmingham. The final is scheduled for July 5 at Lord’s. India are pooled in Group 1 along with Pakistan, Netherlands, South Africa, Bangladesh and Australia. The other group includes England, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Scotland, West Indies and New Zealand. The top two teams from each group will progress to the semi-finals to be played at The Oval on June 30 and July 2.
India are yet to win a T20 World Cup but are the current ODI champions. This will be the fifth T20 World Cup where Harmanpreet will be leading India. India had failed to make the knockouts of the last edition in 2024, and their best finish under Harmanpreet was making the final in the 2020 edition, where they went down to hosts Australia in front of a record crowd at the MCG.
India squad for Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 and T20I series in England
Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (vice-capt), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Kranti Gaud, Shree Charani, Shreyanka Patil, Bharti Fulmali, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Nandani Sharma, Radha Yadav.
