Rawal vs Deol, spin dilemma and other ODI questions for India

With a home ODI World Cup looming in September, India have just six matches left to fine-tune their combinations. The upcoming three-match series in England, beginning Wednesday in Southampton, offers a glimpse into the team's evolving plans.

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur believes the growing competition for spots is a "healthy headache" to have, which she attributes to improved depth and balance. Here are some of the tricky decisions the team management may have to make.

Pratika Rawal may have racked up 638 runs in 11 ODIs at an average of 63.80, including five fifties and a century, but this series holds deeper significance for her with the World Cup looming. The reason? Shafali Verma.

Shafali's ability to dismantle attacks in the powerplay makes her an irresistible asset, even if her high-risk approach can come with bouts of inconsistency. Rawal, by contrast, builds her innings, and accelerates as she settles in. She is also a handy spin option, while Shafali is strictly just part-time.

As impressive as Rawal's initiation has been, the runs have mostly come against Ireland, West Indies, Sri Lanka and a depleted South Africa. This, in a way, will be her first big test in international cricket.

A good series for Rawal will make it harder for the selectors to displace her from the opening spot alongside Smriti Mandhana, but her style of play and method of run accumulation could also make her a useful proposition at No. 3 if Shafali's resurgence in the England T20Is convinces the team management to back her to reclaim her opening spot in ODIs, a format she last played in October 2024.

The only problem with that reshuffle could be that Harleen Deol, who has transformed her game and has been in excellent form across formats lately, may have to be benched. Since her comeback from injury in December 2024, Deol has hit 230 runs in six innings, including a maiden ODI century. She also played a sparkling knock in the T20I series opener in England.

Deol's form, Rawal's run glut and Shafali's X-factor leaves India with a tough choice to make. The next three games could indicate which way the team management will be inclined towards ahead of the Australia series, their final audition before the World Cup opener on September 30 against Sri Lanka.

Pooja Vastrakar hasn't played since the T20 World Cup last October. She missed the WPL as well, and there has been no official update from the BCCI or selectors, on her rehab or possible return. In her absence, Amanjot Kaur has emerged as a capable replacement, even if not like-for-like.

While Amanjot lacks Vastrakar's pace and ability to hustle batters, she brings her own strengths to the table: gentle swing, accuracy, and an ability to stem the flow of runs, as seen in the recent T20I series. She picked up six wickets in two matches in the tri-series against Sri Lanka and South Africa this April.

Her batting, too, has come into its own. A prime example was her unbeaten 63 under pressure, rescuing India from 31 for 3 in the second T20I against England in Bristol. This means the tussle for the one remaining seam-bowler's slot is likely to be between Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Goud and Sayali Satghare. The selectors will also have an opportunity to look at Titas Sadhu, who will be on the A tour to Australia having recovered from injury. There is no update yet on Renuka Singh.

Among the contenders, Reddy looks the frontrunner currently, having featured in three games in the tri-series and each of the five T20Is after being dropped for the home series against Ireland and West Indies earlier in the year. Goud brings with her pace, but is largely untested, while Satghare is a swing bowler.

Deepti Sharma appears to be a lock-in. So the tussle will be between Sneh Rana, N Shree Charani and Radha Yadav for two spots.

Rana announced herself in the WPL for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after initially going unsold at the auction. Then, after having not been in the scheme of things for nearly a year-and-a-half, she received a lifeline when she was picked for the ODI tri-series in Sri Lanka.

There, she was named Player of the series for her 15 wickets in five games, including a career-best 5 for 43 in a match-winning spell against South Africa. The T20I series in England was her comeback to the shortest format after over two years.

Charani, who was also on that tour in Sri Lanka, has been named Player of the series in the England T20Is for her chart-topping 10 wickets. The team management is impressed by her ability to bowl across phases. She also performed exceedingly well in the tri-series, picking up six wickets in five games at an economy of 5.39, and was the perfect spin twin to Rana.

The allure of playing two genuine spinners and Deepti could make it tough for the team management to include Radha Yadav, arguably one of the best fielders in the women's game today. Her improved left-arm spin and ability to wield the willow lower down the order makes her hard to ignore. But such is the competition that there's only space for two, unless the toss-up boils down to one between Deepti and Rana.

1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Pratika Rawal, 3 Harleen Deol, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Jemimah Rodrigues, 6 Richa Ghosh (wk), 7 Amanjot Kaur, 8 Deepti Sharma, 9 Arundhati Reddy, 10 Sneh Rana/Radha Yadav, 11 N Shree Charani