India domestic: Four teams announced for U-19 One-Day Challenger Trophy

As many as six members of Uttarakhand’s championship-winning team have made their way into the tournament, with skipper Neelam having been handed the reins of India D. She will be assisted by Chandigarh seamer Kashvee Gautam who shot to fame in the 2019-20 season having picked up a 10-fer against Arunachal Pradesh. Amruta Saran of Puducherry, whose 16 wickets in just four matches included an incredible haul of 8 for 19 against Goa, is also part of the team.

Soniya Medhiya, the top-order batter from Haryana, who finished the inter-state competition as the top run-getter with 260 runs, will join Mumbai’s Aachal Valanju (238 runs), and Rajasthan’s Anaya Garg (151 runs) as one of their batting pillars.

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Meanwhile, Krishnamurthy will lead a strong-looking India A side that includes three of the six centurions from the inter-state tournament – Punjab’s Aishmaine Kaur (231 runs), Puducherry’s Roshni R (221 runs), and Tripura’s Tanisha Das (145 runs). To add to that strength with the bat, they will also have the services of Muskan Sogi (13 wickets), Nirmiti Rane (11 wickets) and Krishnamurthy herself, who took 16 wickets for Karnataka through the inter-state tournament.

Pragati Singh, the top-order batter from Punjab will headline the Sharma-led India B team. Singh scored 257 runs in six matches, at an average of over 51 and a promising strike rate of 75.14. She will be joined by the likes of Sanika Chalke (176 runs), Mamatha (178 runs) and Sharma (177 runs) who will further bolster the batting unit.

Young Sikkim seamer Dikcha Gurung (11 wickets), Hyderabad leggie G Trisha and Tamil Nadu’s C Sushanthika (both 9 wickets) will lead their charge with the ball.

Andhra wicketkeeper-batter Dayana will lead an India C team that boasts of the top allrounder of the Under-19 inter-state tournament, Soumya Tiwari. The Madhya Pradesh allrounder finished at the top of the wicket charts with 19 scalps, including two 5-fers, also scoring 224 runs, the fifth most in the competition. The inclusions of Prerna GR (222 runs), who will double up as vice-captain, Subhra Swain (204 runs), and Bawandeep Kaur (186) will further strengthen the batting.

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Punjab’s Mannat Kashyap (14 wickets) and Karnataka’s Mithali Vinod (11 wickets), who come into the tournament with some form under their belt, will likely be their main weapons with the ball.

The Challenger trophy will be played across two venues in Jaipur – the Rajasthan Cricket Association Academy Ground and KL Saini Stadium – between November 2 to 7. Each team will play each other once, with the top two qualifying for the final.

Having reported in Jaipur last evening, the players are currently undergoing mandatory quarantine. They will have two practice days on Sunday (October 31) and Monday (November 30) before the tournament gets underway.

Teams:

India A: Chandasi Krishnamurthy (c), Ambika Watade (wk), Ishwari Savkar, Tanisha Das, Titas Sadhu, Srilekha Roy, Muskan Sogi, Roshni Kiran (vc), Nirmiti Rane, Aishmaine Kaur, Mithali Kanojiya, Savali Kolambkar, Roshni R, Soumya Verma (wk)

India B: Anushka Sharma (c), Nandini Kashyap (vc, wk), Shikha, Sanika Chalke, Pragati Singh, Susantika, Shree Charani, Sonam Yadav, Nancy Sharma, G Trisha, Sakshi Joshi, Dikcha Gurung, Jintimani Kalita, Mamata (wk)

India C: KE Dayana (c, wk), Prerna GR (vc), Anuradha Bisht, Mithila Vinod, Minakshi Singh, Mannat Kashyap, Soumya Tiwari, Sakshi Thakur, Shubra Swain, Bawandeep Kour, Janki Rathod, Pooja Raj, Naina Rajput (wk), Falak Naaz

India D: Neelam (c), Kashvee Gautam (vc), Hrishita Basu (wk), Anaya Garg, Soniya Mehdiya, Shivali Kumari, Vinny Suzan, Amrita Saran, Shweta Sawant, Neha Sharma, Gulshan Ali, Raghvi Bisht, Anchal Valanji, Khushi Chahal (wk)

Fixtures:

2 November: India A v India B (RCA Academy Ground); India C v India D (KL Saini Stadium)
3 November: India B v India C (RCA Academy Ground); India A v India D (KL Saini Stadium)
5 November: India A v India C (RCA Academy Ground); India B v India D (KL Saini Stadium)
7 November: Final