Our Sports Desk
Hyderabad: This is not a story about one cricketer. It is about how the Hyderabad Cricket Association picks its women’s teams, who really makes those decisions, and whether the high-profile appointments announced for women’s cricket are anything more than cosmetic.
HCA has publicly placed women’s cricket in the hands of well-known names, presented as a guarantee of professional, merit-based selection. But a well-known name on a committee means little if decisions are shaped elsewhere. Each time a selection defies the record, it raises the same uncomfortable questions. Who is actually deciding? And are the people with the titles the people with the power? The announcement of the senior women’s squad for the BCCI Senior Women’s T20 Trophy Elite 2026-27, beginning in Pune on October 26, is the latest example.
The selectors have named Pranavi Chandra Velagapudi captain, with M Mamtha as vice-captain and wicketkeeper. The questions that follow are not about the player’s ability or effort. They are about how the decision was reached.
The record behind it is what is drawing attention. Pranavi was not in Hyderabad’s senior women’s squad in 2024-25, when the team was led by Kavya Mahesh with Kranthi Reddy as vice-captain. In 2025-26, she played for Kerala, including the Senior Women’s One Day Trophy match in February 2026 in which Kerala beat Hyderabad by 141 runs.
In HCA’s own selection matches this season: 51 runs from two women’s T20 selection matches, ranked 14th. In the Super League: one match, eight runs.
So a player who has not represented Hyderabad for two seasons, who played last season against Hyderabad, and who ranked 14th in this season’s selection matches, now leads Hyderabad’s senior side. Kranthi Reddy, last season’s vice-captain, is in the squad without any leadership role. So is Gongadi Trisha, a two-time Under-19 World Cup winner.
If the selection matches decide selection, this outcome needs an explanation. If they don’t, HCA needs to say what does.
Players moving between associations is permitted under BCCI rules, with the proper clearances. That raises the questions HCA must answer:
- Did Pranavi obtain a no-objection certificate from the Kerala Cricket Association, and is she eligible to play for Hyderabad this season under BCCI rules?
- If selection is based on performance in the selection matches, how does a player ranked 14th make the squad at all, let alone as captain? What were the figures of the players ranked above her, and were any of them left out?
- On what basis was a returning player preferred as captain over players who have represented Hyderabad continuously?
- Did anyone outside the selection committee have any role in this decision?
- Will the selection committee publish its minutes and the reasons for this decision?
The squad: Pranavi Chandra Velagapudi (captain), M Mamtha (vice-captain, wicketkeeper), Gongadi Trisha, Drithi Kesari, S Yashasri, Pooja Vanka, Sandhya Gora, Kunchala Niteesha, M Sakshi Rao, Kavya Sree, Eddla Srujana, Kranthi Reddy Nalla, K Nidhi (wicketkeeper), Palthya Parvathi, Thati Krishnaveni. Stand-byes: Y Trisha Poojitha, Katta Srivalli, Sri Bilvika Reddy, M Shivani Goud, Meha Laxmi Ediga.
Women’s cricket in Hyderabad has produced World Cup winners at age-group level. It deserves a selection process that is as good as its players, not famous names on a letterhead. Until HCA explains this decision, players and parents will draw their own conclusions.
