Felt like I was making my debut; this series has given me confidence

Sneh Rana is back with a bang. After more than a year out of the Indian women's team, the off-spinner returned for the just-ended ODI tri-series in Colombo.

- Shalini Gupta

CHANDIGARH: Sneh Rana is back with a bang. After more than a year out of the Indian women's team, the off-spinner returned for the just-ended ODI tri-series in Colombo.

Her haul of 15 wickets (econ 4.73), including 5/43 against South Africa, helped India emerge winners with the 31-year-old named Player-of-the-Series. Rana had played her last ODI in December 2023 — she hasn't played T20Is since February that year — but it didn't show as she equalled Australian Cathryn Fitzpatrick's record for most wickets in a multi-team ODI series.

In the final on Sunday, Rana's 4/38 dashed Sri Lanka's hopes after being set 343 to win.

Back in favour of the national selectors after a fine showing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in WPL 3, the player from Dehradun should be in the frame along with Deepti Sharma for the women's ODI World Cup which India are due to host in September-October.

In this interview, Rana talks about her comeback, working on her craft while away from the India team and about change of pace helping her succeed on good pitches laid out by the organisers at the R Premadasa Stadium pitch. Excerpts:

What was your mindset playing for India after almost 15 months?