By: Express News ServiceJanuary 18, 2026 09:57 AM IST 2 min readThe elder of two sisters, a young Gautam started playing cricket at the insistence of her aunt Sunita Sharma and a young six-year-old Gautam would play gully cricket with the neighbourhood boys in Sector 37.Twenty-two-year-old Chandigarh cricketer Kashvee Gautam earned the Indian women’s cricket team call-up on Saturday when she was named in the Indian Women’s ODI team for the Australia Tour starting February 15.The Indian team will play three T20Is as well as three women’s ODIS apart from one women’s Test during the Australia tour. Gautam, who had become the most expensive uncapped player to be sold in the history of Women’s Premier League after being sold to Gujarat Giants for Rs 2 crore in 2023, was picked up by Gujarat Giants for Rs 65 lakh in the WPL auction last year and is currently playing in the WPL for the team. Gautam has so far played in three ODIS for the Indian women’s team.Also Read | In WPL, domestic players make the difference, they are match-winners: Sophie DevineThe elder of two sisters, a young Gautam started playing cricket at the insistence of her aunt Sunita Sharma and a young six-year-old Gautam would play gully cricket with the neighbourhood boys in Sector 37. The youngster would break into Chandigarh junior as well as senior team while in her teens. Gautam first hogged the limelight when she claimed all the 10 wickets against Arunachal Pradesh in the BCCI Women’s U-19 One Day Tournament at Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh in 2020. It also meant that she became the first Indian woman cricketer to do so. The Chandigarh youngster has played for India A teams in the past and it will be the first time that she will be playing in Indian senior team colours.World Cup Winners Harleen Deol and Amanjot Kaur of Mohali were too picked for the Indian women’s team for the Australia Tour. Kaur was picked in both the T20 as well as ODI teams with Deol picked up for the ODI team.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd