Shikha Pandey’s inclusion in India’s T20 World Cup squad leads to celebrations on Cricket Twitter

A day after announcing the men’s squad for the white-ball series against Sri Lanka at home, the BCCI on Wednesday announced the squad for the Women’s T20 World Cup that takes place in February, as well as the triangular series in South Africa that takes place right before the mega-event.

The news of the squad announcement naturally made waves on social media, and Indian cricket fans were particularly thrilled by the return of senior bowler Shikha Pandey, who had been relegated to the sidelines since touring Australia with the Indian team last year.

The right-arm seamer, who has represented India in more than a hundred white-ball games besides three Test appearances, naturally was the focus of fans on social media. We take a look at some select reactions below:

Congrats @shikhashauny on your recall for the tri series and World Cup.. Wish you the very best..@BCCIWomen

— W V Raman (@wvraman) December 28, 2022

Some of the notable surprise appearances in human history few expected:

Martin Scorsese in ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976)

David Bowie in ‘Zoolander’ (2001)

Irrfan as Roohdar in ‘Haider’ (2014)

Shikha Pandey in India’s #T20WorldCup squad (2022)

— Annesha Ghosh (@ghosh_annesha) December 28, 2022

Jaydev Unadkat. Shikha Pandey.

— Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) December 28, 2022

I love that @shikhashauny is trending on Twitter today!!!!!#T20WorldCup2023

— Roberta Moretti Avery (@MorettiAvery) December 28, 2022

Good to see Shikha Pandey fighting her way back into the Indian team for the #ICCT20WorldCup. Should be an inspiration for Sneh Rana. Looks a good team.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 28, 2022

She maintained a dignified silence for the 15 months she was kept out. Put her head down, worked hard, forced the selectors to take note through consistent performances in domestic cricket. Congratulations, @shikhashauny. Look forward to those big inswingers in South Africa.

— Shashank Kishore (@captainshanky) December 28, 2022

Welcome back @shikhashauny!

Another inspiration to always say, We Keep Trying