No place for Yastika Bhatia as India announce squad for Asian Games 2026

Top-order batter Yastika Bhatia has paid the price of a lean run at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in England and has been left out of India's squad for the Asian Games to be held in Aichi-Nagoya in Japan in September.

The Women's Selection Committee has retained Harmanpreet Kaur as captain of the side despite the T20 World Cup debacle, whereas Smriti Mandhana continues to be her deputy. Tamil Nadu's wicketkeeper batter Gunalan Kamalini comes into the side for the intercontinental event, replacing Yastika.

Yastika played four games during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup. She aggregated just 41 runs, averaging 13.66 at a strike rate of 117.14 across the three innings she batted in the competition. It's a huge setback for the southpaw as she had made a comeback after spending months on the sideline following an ACL surgery.

Spin-bowling allrounder Shreyanka Patil has also been included in the squad. However, her participation is subject to fitness clearance. Shreyanka suffered an ankle ligament injury while chasing the ball during India's T20 World Cup game against Netherlands and had to be stretchered off.

Leg-spinner Prema Rawat was named as her replacement. However, Prema was unable to leave a lasting impression on the minds of the selectors and the team management in the only opportunity she got against South Africa, finishing with figures of 0/21. She has not been named as one of the members of the squad for the Asian Games.

India are the defending champions at the Asian Games. They had secured the gold medal in the previous edition in 2023 in Hangzhou, China, defeating Sri Lanka in the summit clash by 19 runs.

India's squad for the 2026 Asian Games

Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (Vice-Captain), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (WK), G. Kamalini (WK), Bharti Fulmali, Sree Charani, Renuka Thakur, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Shreyanka Patil*, Radha Yadav, Nandni Sharma.