The Women’s Challengers Series, an exhibition tournament depicted as Women’s IPL and played on the sidelines of the Indian Premier League, is being scheduled from November 4 to 9 in the UAE.
The three-team tournament, featuring mixed teams of Indian and overseas players, has become a regular feature of the IPL. The competition will also see the resumption of women’s cricket in India for the first time since the activities were suspended in March this year to mitigate the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Yes, the dates of the tournament have been finalised. It will be held from November 4 to 9. There will be a single round-robin league between the three teams Trailblazers, Velocity and Supernovas along with the final. In all four matches will be held,” national news agency PTI has quoted an anonymous IPL official as saying.
“The final has been slotted on November 9 as we didn’t want to schedule on the day of the men’s final. There is enormous interest in the women’s event and it is only commercially prudent that it is separated from men’s event,” the official said.
The BCCI earlier this week has announced the five-member women’s selection panel, which will be headed by former India spinner Neetu David.
The teams are expected to reach the UAE by October 15 and serve mandatory one-week quarantine before hitting the nets.
“The girls haven’t had training for such a long time and they would need to be given adequate time for net practice,” the source said.
It is expected that all three teams will have more Indian players this time considering the fact that for health safety reasons, teams need to carry more players.
Also, top players from Australia and England will not be available due to the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), where they have already signed prior contracts. The dates of WBBL are clashing with Women’s Challengers.
Three Indian players Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur were expected to feature in WBBL. They may join the professional Australian league after the tournament in the UAE.