Kalita called up as Renuka ruled out of Zimbabwe ODIs
India's pace attack for the Zimbabwe ODI series has changed on the eve of the first match. The board has ruled out Renuka Singh Thakur and named Jintimani Kalita as her replacement. The announcement came on October 22, a day before the three-match series starts in Vadodara.
The board's statement gives workload as the reason, not a fresh injury. Renuka is still building up the bowling volume needed for 50-over cricket at the BCCI Centre of Excellence. She wasn't judged ready for the longer format, so the selectors went with a bowler already in the camp.
Kalita is in Baroda because she was part of the T20I squad that played in Raipur, so there is no travel scramble. She has stayed with the group for the ODIs. The right-arm medium pacer, who bats left-handed, comes from Mangaldai in Assam. Mumbai Indians picked her at the first Women's Premier League auction in 2023 for Rs 10 lakh. She had also played for India A, including the games against England A earlier this year. Her call-up to the senior T20I squad, along with Niki Prasad's, was one of the new-face stories when the squads were announced on October 6.
Renuka's absence matters because she was the one specialist swing option picked for the ODIs. She had been left out of the T20I squad despite being part of the group that won Asian Games gold last month. The selectors had kept her for the 50-over games instead. Her ODI record at home is strong. She took ten wickets in the three-match home series against West Indies in December 2024 and was named Player of the Series.
With Kalita in, the ODI squad is: Smriti Mandhana (captain), Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Harmanpreet Kaur, Harleen Deol, Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma (vice-captain), Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), Yastika Bhatia (wicketkeeper), Vaishnavi Sharma, Nandni Sharma, Sree Charani, Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare and Kalita.
The pace options are thin on experience. Kranti Gaud is the senior seamer. Satghare and Vaishnavi Sharma add depth, and Deepti and Charani provide the spin. Kalita is a squad member with the series about to begin, and she may not play at all if the team sticks to the bowling combination it prefers.
India go into the ODIs after a clean sweep of the T20Is. They won the third match in Raipur by 92 runs after posting 216 for 7. Harmanpreet scored an unbeaten 91 off 41 balls and Shafali made 69. Nandni Sharma then took three wickets for 18 runs as Zimbabwe finished on 124 for 7. It was a perfect first T20I series for Mandhana as full-time captain. She took over after Harmanpreet stepped down from the captaincy, though Harmanpreet remains available as a player.
This is also the first bilateral series between India and Zimbabwe women. India will want to use the ODIs to settle their combinations in a format that sees less action, and to give the new leadership group more time together. Zimbabwe have shown some fight, with Sharne Mayers scoring 60 in the last T20I and Beloved Biza taking wickets. They will find 50-over cricket on Indian pitches a bigger test.
All three ODIs are at 2 PM IST in Vadodara, on Friday October 23, Sunday October 25 and Wednesday October 28. Renuka should return once she has the bowling load for 50-over cricket, and the selectors will watch how Kalita fits in during this series.