Women's T20 Challenge likely to be played in Sharjah

Sportstar reported on Monday (September 14).

Earlier in August, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that the Women’s T20 Challenge will take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a three-team event during the men’s Indian Premier League (IPL) play-offs and the teams will play four matches.

As per the report, Sourav Ganguly, BCCI president, and other administrators visited the Sharjah stadium on Sunday for an inspection ahead of the upcoming season of the IPL.

India last played a competitive match when they played the T20 World Cup final against Australia at the MCG in March. India were to travel to England for a series in late June, but the series was postponed and then was rescheduled as a tri-series involving the hosts and South Africa. But India pulled out of the proposed series citing the travel restrictions in the country owing to the pandemic, before the Proteas did so.

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“The players have been out of action for nearly six months, so they will take some time to attain match fitness,” an official was quoted as saying. “Even though they are doing individual training, it would take a few weeks to get things in place.”

The competition will be played under the same bio-secure mandatory COVID-19 protocols that will be in place for the IPL and the players will have to go into the bio-bubble adhering to all the safety measures.

There is no clarity yet on how the three teams for the competition will be selected as BCCI is yet to appoint the new panel of selectors since the last panel led by Hemlata Kala completed their tenure with the selection of the team for the T20 World Cup. They have invited applicants to fill the posts in January, but since then the posts have remained vacant.