Niki Prasad, Kalita and Nandani join India squads for Zimbabwe

India have included Niki Prasad and Jintimani Kalita in their T20I squad and brought Nandani Sharma into the ODI group for the upcoming home white-ball series against Zimbabwe. The six-match assignment, Smriti Mandhana’s first as India’s full-time white-ball captain, will run from October 16 to October 28.

The series consists of three T20Is in Raipur followed by three ODIs in Vadodara. Shafali Verma has been named T20I vice-captain, while Deepti Sharma will be Mandhana’s deputy in the ODI series. Harmanpreet Kaur, who stepped down from India’s captaincy across formats earlier on the day the squads were announced, remains part of both 15-player groups.

The selections offer opportunities to emerging players while retaining a substantial group of experienced internationals. Prasad, Kalita and Nandani will be among the names closely watched as India begin a new leadership phase under Mandhana against Zimbabwe.

New selections and changes across the two squads

Prasad and Kalita are the new names in the T20I squad. Nandani, who has already played T20Is and was part of India’s Asian Games-winning campaign in Nisshin, is the new face in the ODI squad. She is also included in the T20I group for the Zimbabwe series.

Prasad arrives after a productive recent run for India A in the home all-format series against Australia A. She made an unbeaten 54 in the second T20, then contributed four wickets and 76 from 71 balls in India’s victory in the third one-day match. In the one-off four-day game, Prasad scored 91 in the first innings and took a match haul of 7 for 77, including five wickets in the second innings. She had also captained India to the Under-19 World Cup title in Malaysia in 2025.

Kalita’s call-up comes after appearances on the India A tour of England in June and July and in the more recent matches against Australia A at home. Nandani has had notable recent involvement in India’s white-ball set-up, featuring in the women’s T20 Asia Cup in Dubai, which India won, as well as the Asian Games campaign.

India’s T20I group has changed from the squad that won Asian Games gold last month. Bharti Fulmali, Shreyanka Patil, Renuka Singh and Radha Yadav are absent from that group, while Minnu Mani and Anushka Sharma join Prasad and Kalita among the incoming players.

The ODI squad has a different look from the group used on India’s Australia tour in February and March. G Kamalini, Jemimah Rodrigues, Amanjot Kaur, Sneh Rana and Kashvee Gautam were part of that earlier ODI line-up. The replacements for the Zimbabwe series are Tejal Hasabnis, Yastika Bhatia, Vaishnavi Sharma, Nandani Sharma and Sayali Satghare.

Rodrigues has been unavailable since sustaining a high-grade right hamstring tear while playing for Southern Brave in the women’s Hundred earlier this year. The injury also kept her out of India’s Asian Games campaign.

India-Zimbabwe schedule and full squads

The T20I leg begins in Raipur on October 16, with the second and third matches scheduled there on October 18 and October 20. The ODI series then moves to Vadodara, where the teams will meet on October 23, October 25 and October 28.

India’s T20I squad is Smriti Mandhana (captain), Shafali Verma (vice-captain), Niki Prasad, Harmanpreet Kaur, Anushka Sharma, Richa Ghosh, G Kamalini, Deepti Sharma, Prema Rawat, N Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Arundhati Reddy, Jintimani Kalita and Minnu Mani.

The ODI squad comprises Mandhana (captain), Verma, Pratika Rawal, Harmanpreet, Harleen Deol, Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti (vice-captain), Richa Ghosh, Yastika Bhatia, Vaishnavi Sharma, Nandani Sharma, N Shree Charani, Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare and Renuka Singh.