India women's cricketer Shikha Pandey breaks down live on not getting selected for Bangladesh tour

Shikha Pandey got dropped from India's squad for the Bangladesh tour, starting on July 9.

After a long break since the Women's Premier League, India's women's team will start their new assignment. Team India will tour Bangladesh for three T20Is and three ODIs. The tour will start on July 9 (Sunday) with the first T20I game at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka, while the tour will conclude on July 22 with the final ODI. The BCCI selection committee announced the squad for T20Is and ODIs on July 3.

Some big players missed out on the squad, while some new faces got a call to the national side. Some big names like Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, and Shikha Pandey were dropped from the team, which will tour Bangladesh under the leadership of Harmanpreet Kaur. However, veteran all-rounder Shikha Pandey's absence from the tour came as a big surprise to many, despite his good form of late.

"I still had a lot of cricket left in me"- Shikha Pandey on her non-selection

The 34-year-old had a pretty good WPL season for the Delhi Capitals. She ended as the highest wicket-taker for her franchise and was one of the reasons that Delhi reached the final. Though this is not the first time that Shikha has come under the radar. She made her comeback ahead of the T20 World Cup in South Africa earlier this year. Then she was given the central contract and also dropped from the Bangladesh tour.

In her latest interview on Sportstar with former Indian head coach WV Raman, she couldn't hold one and broke down. She admitted that it is hard to accept when you are putting effort and don't get result. Shikha added, "I’m sure there’s some reason behind it which I do not know. What’s in my hands is hard work, and I’m a stout believer in hard work. So it’s just about working hard until I am mentally and physically fit. You thought I still had a lot of cricket left in me, and I should play until the time I enjoy the sport."

The 34-year-old has played 120 international games for India across formats. She has taken 75 wickets in 55 ODIs and 43 T20I wickets in 62 games. She also revealed that when she was dropped for the first time, she decided to quit the game, but her mentors suggested her to take time to overcome the emotional period. Shikha Pandey added, "I’m disappointed right now, but the situation I’m put in is out of my control, the decisions I take to get out of it are completely in my hands."