Mandhana, Harmanpreet to lead; International stars named

It is now confirmed by the BCCI that Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the two sides for the Women's Challenge game at the Wankhede.

Further, Mr Rajeev Shukla, Chairman, IPL, said, “Even as IPL continues to roll like a well-oiled machine, over the last couple of weeks, efforts were made to put in place a similar structure for women cricketers. We were in talks with several Boards and I am pleased with the outcome. White Ferns captain Suzie Bates, attacking batter Sophie Devine, who holds the record for fastest half-century in women’s T20Is, Australia’s fine all-rounder Ellyse Perry, wicket-keeper bat Alyssa Healy, Megan Schutt and Beth Mooney have confirmed their participation. Danni Wyatt and Daniel Hazell will add the English flavour. This special game will be played at Mumbai’s iconic Wankhede Stadium and will be telecast live in India and across the world”.

Diana Edulji, the member of Committee of Administrators (CoA), spoke on the issue stating that BCCI has been pulling out all stops to promote and nurture women's cricket and this is a small step towards it. She further added that Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Veda Krishanmurthy among others rubbing shoulders with foreign stars will be a unique experience and something that we have not witnessed here in India.

The press release by Amitabh Choudhary also stated that the match will begin at 14:00 IST on 22nd May which will be followed by Men's IPL Qualifier 1 from 19:00 IST.

People are now eagerly waiting for the full squads to be announced. We will keep you updated with further information.