Women’s T20 Challenge squads and schedule announced

Women’s T20 Challenge squads and schedule: The immense success of the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup had raised widespread requests for staging a full-fledged Women’s IPL. But taking into account the current COVID situation and the security protocols associated with it, the IPL governing council has once again decided to move forward with the already existing Women’s T20 Challenge (Mini Women’s IPL) for this year as well. As reported earlier, the tournament will be played from November 4 to November 9 alongside the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). In one of the recent developments regarding the tournament, the BCCI in unison with the all-India Women’s Selection Committee has named three squads consisting of 15 members each.

Women’s T20 Challenge squads

The BCCI has announced three squads to compete in the Women’s T20 Challenge. These teams named Trailblazers, Supernovas, and Velocity will be led by prominent Indian batters Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Mithali Raj respectively. The likes of Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Veda Krishnamurthy respectively will serve as their deputy.

The BCCI announces squads for Women’s T20 Challenge.@ImHarmanpreet, @mandhana_smriti & @M_Raj03 to lead Supernovas, Trailblazers & Velocity respectively. The upcoming Women’s T20 Challenge will be played from 4th to 9th November in UAE.

More details – https://t.co/XpHsvmoEjl pic.twitter.com/Y04VxlGRnz

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 11, 2020

With this edition of the tournament clashing with the schedule of the Women’s Big Bash League, only 12 overseas players will taker part in the competition. They have been divided into three teams each. Chamari Atapattu, Shashikala Siriwardene, Shakera Selman, Salma Khatun, Leigh Kasperek, Sophie Ecclestone, Danielle Wyatt, Natthakan Chatham, Sune Luus, Ayabonga Khaka, Deandra Dottin, and Jahanara Alam are the 12 overseas players available.

Natthakan Chatham will become the first player from Thailand to feature in the Women’s IPL. She rose to fame after scoring a half-century in the recently concluded Women’s T20 World Cup.

The squads are as follows:

Supernovas squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Jemimah Rodrigues (VC), Chamari Atapattu, Priya Punia, Anuja Patil, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Shashikala Siriwardene, Poonam Yadav, Shakera Selman, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar, Ayush Soni, Ayabonga Khaka, Muskan Malik.

Trailblazers squad: Smriti Mandhana (C), Deepti Sharma (VC), Punam Raut, Richa Ghosh, D Hemalatha, Nuzhat Parween (WK), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Harleen Deol, Jhulan Goswami, Simran Dil Bahadur, Salma Khatun, Sophie Ecclestone, Natthakan Chatham, Deandra Dottin, Kashvee Gautam.

Velocity squad: Mithali Raj (C), Veda Krishnamurthy (VC), Shafali Verma, Sushma Verma (WK), Ekta Bisht, Mansi Joshi, Shikha Pandey, Devika Vaidya, Sushree Dibyadarshini, Manali Dakshini, Leigh Kasperek, Danielle Wyatt, Sune Luus, Jahanara Alam, M Anagha.

Velocity, Supernovas to play inaugural Women’s T20 Challenge match

Women’s T20 Challenge schedule

As per schedule, last year’s finalists’ Velocity and Supernovas will play the opening game of the tournament on November 4^th. The defending champions (Supernovas) will play their second match on the immediate next day against the Smriti Mandhana led Trailblazers. The league matches will end on November 7 when the Trailblazers takes on the Supernovas. It will be followed by a one day’s break and final on November 9^th

Supernovas Vs Velocity (Match 1): November 04 at 7:30 PM IST

Velocity Vs Trailblazers (Match 2): November 05 at 3:30 PM IST

Trailblazers Vs Supernovas (Match 3): November 07 at 7:30 PM IST

Final (Match 4): November 09 at 7:30 PM IST

As per reports the tournament is expected to played entirely in Sharjah, considering the COVID protocols and travel restrictions in place. The teams will reach UAE on October 21 and will follow the six-day mandatory quarantine. The players will be tested on the first, third, and fifth days respectively.

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