The Women’s T20 Challenge, a one-of-its-kind exhibition match, is all set to take place ahead of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL) first Qualifier between Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Wankhede Stadium here on Tuesday.
The BCCI is hosting the T20 Challenge to provide the women’s game a platform alongside its most popular tournament.
The match will see some of the finest female cricketers featuring on either side — the IPL Trailblazers and the IPL Supernovas, led by two-star Indian cricketers.
While the IPL Trailblazers are led by Smriti Mandhana, her India teammate Harmanpreet Kaur will skipper the IPL Supernovas.
Apart from Smriti, the Trailblazers also feature Suzie Bates and Jhulan Goswami while the Supernovas feature the likes of Meg Lanning, Ellyse Perry and Sophie Devine.
The match will also see New Zealand captain Suzie Bates playing against her compatriot, Sophie Devine while Australian keeper Alyssa Healy will go up against her compatriots, Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry.
Both the captains are excited to be part of this new initiative.
Trailblazers’ captain Smriti Madhana said, “It is very exciting for all of us to be playing this exhibition match and thankful to BCCI for organising such a unique match and it is a stepping show to the IPL. And hopefully, we will put up a good show and audience and BCCI people will think of having a IPL.”
Meanwhile, the Supernova captain Harmanpreet Kaur said, “We are very excited and were waiting since a long time when we could play an IPL like tournament. We are happy that we have got an opportunity and hopefully, we will get a good match.”
Squads:
IPL Trailblazers: Alyssa Healy (WK), Smriti Mandhana (C), Suzie Bates, Deepti Sharma, Beth Mooney, Jemimah Rodrigues, Danielle Hazell, Shikha Pandey, Lea Tahuhu, Jhulan Goswami, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, Dayalan Hemalatha.
IPL Supernovas: Danielle Wyatt, Mithali Raj, Meg Lanning, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Veda Krishnamurthy, Mona Meshram, Pooja Vastrakar, Megan Schutt, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Anuja Patil, Taniya Bhatia (WK).
