Renuka Thakur Ruled out for One-Off Test Against Australia; Kashvee Gautam Named as Replacement

The pacer Renuka Thakur has been ruled out of the only test in the India Women’s tour of Australia 2026 to manage her workload.

She has been advised to rest and will be unavailable for the selection of the Pinkball test, and the BCCI medical team will be closely monitoring Renuka’s fitness progress.

Meanwhile, Kashvee Gautam has been named as the replacement, who was named as part of the ODI squad in the multi-format series.

Renuka Thakur was part of the T20I and ODI series against Australia, where she picked four wickets in the short format while managing a lone wicket in the two appearances in the ODI leg, having not played the second match.

Renuka Thakur has featured in three tests since debuting in the format in December 2023, bagging two wickets at an average of 90.50. Her absence renders India considerably short on experience in the pace department.

“Team India pacer Renuka Thakur has been ruled out of the Only-Test at the WACA Ground in Perth, which is part of the ongoing multi-format series against Australia Women,” said a BCCI statement.

🚨 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐖𝐀𝐂𝐀 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭!

Kashvee Gautam could be in line for her Test debut 👀#CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/sLKPUErxAz

— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) March 3, 2026

“To better manage her workload, Renuka has been advised to rest and will be unavailable for selection for the pink-ball Test. The BCCI Medical Team will be closely monitoring Renuka’s fitness progress.”

“The Women’s Selection Committee has named Kashvee Gautam as her replacement. Kashvee was also part of the ODI squad in the ongoing multi-format series,” the BCCI statement said.

However, Kashvee Gautam will be another pace option joining Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare and Amanjot Kaur, who are all uncapped at the test level.

The pink-ball test in the one-off pink-ball test starting on March 06. Australia is leading the multi-format series 8-4 on points. India will be aiming for a win to test a draw level, with four points at stake.

India Squad for One off test: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Varma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Amanjot Kaur, Richa Ghosh (wk), Uma Chetry (wk), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Kashvee Gautam, Sneh Rana, Kran