Indian pacer Renuka Singh will return to the team for the upcoming ODI series against Australia after being absent since December 2024, suffering from a stress fracture. The Himachal pacer missed out on months of cricket but is back with the Indian setup to spearhead the pace attack in the three-match series starting on September 14.

Renuka Singh Thakur has been a fine property for India over the last few years and has been one of India’s best strike bowlers, taking 35 ODI wickets at an impressive average of 22.02 and economy of 4.85. She has been consistently fine with the new ball and has been the linchpin of India's bowling attack.

Since her recovery, not only is Renuka back in the squad for the Australia series, but she has also been picked in India's squad for the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025. India's timing could not be better as they look to build momentum before their significant international matches.

Head Coach Confirms Renuka as Bowling Leader

Speaking ahead of the series, Indian women’s head coach Amol Muzumdar confirmed Renuka’s fitness and pivotal role in the team. “Renuka has just joined in for this series. She was recovering, and she cleared all her tests. Renuka is an important member of the team; she is the leader of the pack as far as medium-pace bowling is concerned. I think she's been an integral part of this team. She had an injury and a layoff, and now she's back with us,” Muzumdar said.

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The Indian women’s team comes into the series off strong performances, having comfortably defeated England in both the ODI and T20I series. They will face Australia in a three-match ODI series, with the first two games on September 14 and 17 at the New Chandigarh Stadium and the final ODI on September 20 at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. India will then open their Women’s World Cup 2025 campaign against co-hosts Sri Lanka in Guwahati on September 30, with the final scheduled for November 2.

The Ranji Trophy has been one of the pinnacle stones of the Indian Cricket Team. It acted as the gateway to discovering talented Indian cricketers who have created a long-lasting impact on the cricket world's landscape. Currently, this tournament has come under the spotlight for many reasons, specifically related to the current Indian cricket team campaigners who are relying on this red-ball tournament to polish and revamp their game after a string of consecutive mediocre performances.

The prominent example is Virat Kohli, who is all set to make a comeback for his home side, Delhi, over 12 years, in tomorrow's Delhi vs Railways Ranji Trophy match. Not just him, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Ravindra Jadeja have been among those who have used the Ranji Trophy as a platform to fine-tune their game. Though the examples mentioned above have been spectacular in this domestic platform, a few players have shown their top-class match in this format but didn't get a chance to don the Indian Cricket Team jersey. That said, here we look at the five players who have seen this scenario.

The Ranji Trophy has been one of the foundation stones that has helped the Indian Cricket Team produce some impeccable and wholesome talent ever since the National team's inception. In the recent timeline, this domestic tournament has come under the spectator's radar as many prominent and experienced international campaigners are playing this tournament in order to warm up and get back to groom with their basic game through their well-versed Indian conditions.

Teams like England and Australia have current players with innumerable domestic experiences helping in their team successes; several Indian campaigners have started following that path, with the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ravindra Jadeja being one of the few. This listicle will look at the top five batters who have scored the most runs across the Ranji Trophy tournament's timeline. 

Amol Muzumdar, the head coach of India’s Women’s team, has outlined his strategy to cultivate a pool of 20-25 players sourced from the Women’s Premier League season 2. His aim is to fortify their reserves and enhance bench strength. Muzumdar disclosed this during his commentary in the recent WPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore Women and Gujarat Giants.

He particularly stressed the importance of nurturing a group of highly skilled fast bowlers. Muzumdar believes that strengthening India’s bowling department will significantly elevate the team’s performance. Despite the decent performance of the Indian women’s team under Harmanpreet Kaur’s leadership, their vulnerability in handling pressure during ICC finals, akin to the men’s team, remains a pressing issue.

Strategic Vision: Building a Strong Reserve Pool

Taking charge as head coach just before the home series against England and Australia last year, India secured victories in the one-off Tests against both teams. However, they faced setbacks in the limited-overs series, with England and Australia clinching 2-1 victories in the T20Is and a 3-0 win in the ODIs, respectively.

The pace bowling contingent in the white-ball matches featured Renuka Singh, Titas Sadhu, along with all-rounders Pooja Vastrakar and Amanjot Kaur. Although Meghna Singh was part of the Test squad, she didn’t feature in any of the games. Muzumdar expressed his desire to expand the pool of players to bolster the Indian team’s depth, emphasizing the importance of reinforcing the bowling attack.

Unveiling Hidden Gems: Talent Discovery and Development

Muzumdar underscored the wealth of talent within the Indian Women’s team, citing examples like Sajeevan Sajana and Satheesh Shubha. Sajana grabbed attention with her match-winning six against Delhi Capitals in the opening WPL match for Mumbai Indians Women.

Meanwhile, Satheesh Shubha, who represents RCB, made her India debut in the one-off Test against England last year. Muzumdar recounted discovering Shubha during a four-day warm-up game at the NCA in Bengaluru and credited Harmanpreet for promptly agreeing to include Shubha in the squad.

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Highlighting the depth of Indian cricket, Muzumdar lauded Sajana’s performance and shared his experience of identifying Shubha’s talent during the warm-up game. He expressed gratitude to Harmanpreet for her swift approval in calling up Shubha to the national team.