Spin allrounder Deepti Sharma will be replacing batting stalwart Mithali Raj as captain of team Velocity in the Women’s T20 Challenge, BCCI confirmed on May 16. Sharma will switch from Trailblazers to Velocity, with Raj’s absence leaving a captaincy void for the side. Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur will continue to lead Trailblazers and Supernovas, respectively.
The BCCI confirmed the dates and venue, apart from the star-studded squads for the triangular event. Returning to the fold after a year’s gap, the Women’s T20 Challenge will be held in Pune from May 23 to 28, coinciding like its previous three editions with the final week of the men’s Indian Premier League.
Raj has been quiet about her future in playing capacity since the end of India’s league-stage exit at the 50-over World Cup in New Zealand which took place in March-April. She didn’t participate in Railways’ campaign throughout the domestic T20 tournament, opting to limit her participation as a team mentor.
Her fellow India legend Jhulan Goswami, for whom also the World Cup was being considered as a farewell ground, has made herself unavailable for the fourth edition of the Women’s T20 Challenge.
The opening game of the tournament will see defending champions Trailblazers take on two-time winners Supernovas, a rivalry that has gained strength since the former ended the latter’s two-season winning streak and fetched the coveted trophy.
Supernovas will then face off against team Velocity on May 24 in an afternoon fixture, which will make it a double-header day for fans, who can enjoy the first qualifier of IPL 2022 in the night. To round off the single round-robin league stage, Velocity will take on Trailblazers on May 26 in a standalone game, with the tournament final scheduled in the evening on May 28.
The senior women’s selection panel has named 36 top Indian cricketers who will mingle with 12 overseas stars coming from Australia, England, South Africa, West Indies, Bangladesh and Thailand to form the three squads.
Joining Deepti in team Velocity as vice-captain is her India teammate Sneh Rana, another player on the rise in world cricket. Velocity also feature star opening batter Shafali Verma in the Indian contingent, with SA’s Ayabonga Khaka and Laura Wolvaardt, England’s Kate Cross and Thailand’s Natthakan Chantham making up the team’s overseas participants.
For Trailblazers led by Mandhana, with Poonam Yadav acting as her deputy, the squad puts together a mix of some talented Indian cricketers with the giants from abroad. Jemimah Rodrigues, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Singh and Richa Ghosh are set to combine forces with Hayley Matthews, Sophia Dunkley and Salma Khatun and Sharmin Akhter.
Equally up for the fight are the two-time winners Supernovas, who will be led by the explosive Harmanpreet, with Tanya Bhatiya her appointed vice-captain. Deandra Dottin, Sophie Ecclestone, who was the leading wicket-taker at the World Cup, Alana King, and Suné Luus make up the team’s overseas contingent.
2022 Women’s T20 Challenge schedule
| May 23 | Trailblazers vs Supernovas |
| May 24 | Supernovas vs Velocity |
| May 26 | Velocity vs Trailblazers |
| May 28 | Final |
Among the Indians, the Supernovas boast of Harleen Deol, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, and Priya Punia, making it a highly competitive side.
Notably missing from the Indian roster for the tournament, apart from Raj and Goswami, are Shikha Pandey, Veda Krishnamurthy, Anuja Patil, Nuzhat Parween, Kashvee Gautam, Murali Anagha, who were part of the previous edition of the T20 challenge back in November 2020.
