Minnu retains her place in Asian Games squad

Kochi: Kerala’s Minnu Mani had more reasons to cheer on her arrival back home on Friday night after completing her maiden sojourn with the Indian T20I team. Soon after she landed at the Cochin International Airport, Minnu received the news that the BCCI had announced the squad for the Asian Games and she has retained her place in the 15-member team that will be captained by Harmanpreet Kaur in Hangzhou.The 24-year-old retained her place in Indian women’s cricket team for Asiad on the back of her impressive performances in her debut international T2O1 series against Bangladesh that ended in Mirpur on Thursday. The off-spinner grabbed a wicket in the first over of all the three matches she bowled and finished the T20I series with five scalps, the second-highest wicket-taker in the series.“I managed to bowl in the Indian team nets before the series started but didn’t get a chance to bat. So I was thinking I wouldn’t be getting an opportunity to play in the first match. But on the morning of the game, I was informed that I will be in the playing XI. It was a surreal moment,” Minnu said.The tribal girl from Choyimoola in Wayanad also expressed her sincere gratitude to the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) and Wayanad District Cricket Association for helping her get the right breaks. “I worked hard to improve my game. But if it wasn’t for the academies started by KCA, I would have never reached here. It helped me become a better player,” added Minnu. Earlier, Minnu was given a warm reception on her arrival by the officials of KCA and young women cricketers of the state. Kerala’s first international cricketer, Tinu Yohannan, garlanded state’s first women international cricketer when she came out of the airport premises.Despite her success in the T20I series, Minnu wouldn’t be featuring in the Indian squad for the ODI series against Bangladesh beginning in Mirpur on Sunday.India women’ s squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Devika Vaidya, Anjali Sarvani, Titas Sadhu, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Minnu Mani, Kanika Ahuja, Uma Chetry (wk), Anusha Bareddy
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