Indian women’s cricket team star Smriti Mandhana on Tuesday praised BCCI’s decision to stage the Women’s T20 Challenge in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), alongside the Indian Premier League.
Taking to her official Twitter timeline, Mandhana welcomed the move and expressed her excitement to play in the tournament, also known as the Women’s IPL.
“Welcome move, Really looking forward to playing the Women’s T20 Challenge,” Mandhana tweeted.
On Sunday, the BCCI had confirmed that the Women’s T20 Challenge will take place in the UAE with three teams playing seven matches among each other during the IPL play-off week.
“I can confirm to you that the women’s IPL is very much on and we do have a plan in place for the national team also,” PTI quited BCCI president Sourav Ganguly ahead of the IPL Governing Council meeting on Sunday.
The news agency also quoted a source as saying, “The women’s Challenger series is likely to be held between November 1-10 and there could be a camp before that. It was also informed that the women’s team will have a national camp soon.
Meanwhile, other than Mandhana, many other cricketers like Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Poonam Yadav, and Veda Krishnamurthy have also heaped praises on BCCI for its decision to ahead with the Women’s T20 Challenge.
The women’s team, which missed out their all-important tour of England, will get a some much-needed match practice ahead of the the ODI World Cup in next year. A series with South Africa is also in the cards for them.
However, many Australian cricketers, such as Alyssa Healy and Rachel Haynes, have condemned BCCI’s decision to stage the Women’s T20 Challenge during the time when the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) is also set to be played. The WBBL has been scheduled from October 17 to November 29.
The clash in dates will mean that several international marquee cricketers will have to choose between either of the tournament.