Women’s T20 Challenge- Squads, Schedule, Telecast Details: All you need to know

The Women’s T20 Challenge for 2022 is scheduled to start on the 23^rd of May, 2022. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the squads for the tournament. Notably, it will be a three-team tournament and all the matches are scheduled to take place at the MCA Stadium in Pune. The last edition of the tournament took place in 2020, as last year it could not be arranged amidst COVID-19 restrictions. The first match of the fourth edition of the tournament will take place between the finalists of last year- Trailblazers and Supernovas. The final is scheduled to take place on the 28^th of May.

Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana will resume their responsibilities of leading the Supernovas and the Trailblazers respectively. But Mithali raj will be missing out on the action this year and hence the Velocity team will be led by all-rounder Deepti Sharma. Notably, the veteran Indian pacer Jhulan Goswami, who was a part of the champion team of Trailblazers in 2020, will also not be a part of the tournament along with Sikha Pandey.

The confirmation of the tournament was announced by BCCI through a press release. The release read – “The best of Indian women’s cricket will combine with some of the leading stars from South Africa, England, West Indies, and Australia. A total of twelve international players will compete in this year’s Women’s T20 Challenge.”

The three teams will have 16 players each in their squad. Let us look at the three squads taking part in the tournament.

Supernovas: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Taniya Bhatia (VC), Alana King (O), Chandu V, Deandra Dottin (O), Harleen Deol, Meghna Singh, Monica Patel, Muskan Malik, Pooja Vastrakar, Priya Punia, Rashi Kanojia, Sophie Ecclestone (O), Sune Luus (O), Mansi Joshi.

Trailblazers: Smrithi Mandhana (C), Poonam Yadav (VC), Arundhati Reddy, Hayley Matthews (O), Jemmimah Rodrigues, Priyanka Priyadarshini, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, S. Meghana, Saiqa Ishaque, Salma Khatun (O), Sharmin Akter (O), Sophia Brown (O), Sujata Mallik, S.B.Pokharkar.

Velocity: Deepti Sharma (C), Sneh Rana (VC), Shafali Verma, Ayabonga Khaka (O), K.P. Navigre, Kathryn Cross (O), Keerthi James, Laura Wolvaardt (O), Maya Sonawane, Natthakan Chatham (O), Radha Yadav, Aarti Kedar, Shivali Shinde, Simran Bahadur, Yastika Bhatia, Pranavi Chandra.

Now let us look at the schedule of the tournament.

Broadcasting Details: Star Sports Network for Television, Disney+ Hotstar for Online streaming.

Notably, this might be the last edition of the tournament, as the BCCI is planning a six-team Women’s Indian T20 League from next year.