Vaidya is primarily a batter but gives the team some flexibility with her ability to chip in with legspin. In the Inter-State T20s, she scored 130 runs in five innings at an average of 32.50 and a strike rate of 109.24, apart from picking up six wickets.
With Rana absent, in all likelihood due to a niggle – she picked up seven wickets in six games during the Women’s Asia Cup, India’s most recent T20I assignment – the squad contains three spin-bowling regulars – allrounders Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav as well as left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad.
Monika Patel, Arundhati Reddy, SB Pokharkar and Simran Bahadur have been called up as net bowlers.
The five-match series beginning December 10 will be played entirely in Mumbai. The DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai will host the first two games, before the series shifts to the Brabourne Stadium, a venue where Australia lifted the 50-overs World Cup in 2013.