Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy 2023-24: Owing to the Indian Cricket Team’s resounding performance in test match cricket in recent times with dominant wins against England and Australia, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has decided to re-launch a multi-day red ball cricket tournament, i.e. Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy 2023-24.
BCCI has announced plans to introduce this women’s red-ball cricket tournament following the conclusion of the ongoing Women’s Premier League 2024. Scheduled to commence on March 29th in Pune, the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy 2023-24 will feature teams representing six zones: East, West, North, South, Central, and North East.
Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy 2023-24 will consist of a series of five matches, culminating in the grand final on April 9th, 10th, and 11th. As of now, the two teams directly seeded in the semifinals are North Zone and South Zone.
Did the BCCI re-launch the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy 2023-24?
The purpose of this tournament is to gauge the BCCI’s ability to foster enthusiasm among players for multi-day red ball tournaments and test cricket, at large. It aims to emulate the importance attached to domestic competitions like the Ranji Trophy among male players, alongside the allure of the IPL and international cricket.
It is a welcome sign that the red ball tournament marks its entry back to the women’s domestic cricket calendar after 2018. The matches are all set to be hosted by the Maharashtra Cricket Association.
Earlier, the BCCI did have a multi-day red ball tournament. Back then, it was called the ‘Senior Women’s Cricket Inter Zonal Three Day Game’, it was a prestigious first-class domestic cricket competition. Introduced in the 2014–15 season, it initially featured two-day matches but transitioned to a three-day format from the following season onwards.
Five teams, each representing a distinct region or zone of India, participated in this tournament– Central Zone, East Zone, North Zone, South Zone, and West Zone. Central Zone has dominated the competition, clinching victory in the first three editions. However, the current title holders are North Zone, who triumphed in the 2017–18 season.
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Transitioning to a three-day format in the subsequent season (2015–16), the tournament relocated to Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh. Central Zone continued their dominance, securing their second consecutive title by winning one match outright and two others in the first innings.
In the 2016–17 season, held in Chhattisgarh, Central Zone clinched their third title, winning two out of four matches. However, the streak was broken in the 2017–18 season, hosted in Kerala, as North Zone claimed their maiden title.
Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy 2023-24: Schedule, Venues and Timing
Scheduled to commence on March 29th in Pune, the tournament will consist of a series of five matches, culminating in the final on April 9th.
Quarter Final 1 | 28th March, 2024 | East Zone vs North East Zone | Pune Cricket Club Ground, Pune | 9:30 AM |
Quarter Final 2 | 28th March, 2024 | West Zone vs Central Zone | DY Patil Academy, Ambi, Pune | 9:30 AM |
Semi-Final 1 | 3rd April, 2024 | North Zone vs TBD | Pune Cricket Club Ground, Pune | 9:30 AM |
Semi-Final 2 | 3rd April, 2024 | South Zone vs TBD | DY Patil Academy, Ambi, Pune | 9:30 AM |
Final | 9th April, 2024 | TBD v TBD | MCA Cricket Stadium, Pune | 9.30 AM |
Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy 2023-24: Squads
North East Zone: Abhi Nabam, Debasmita Dutta (Captain), Leezamit Lepcha, Lalrinfeli Pautu, Monica Lyngdoh, Nongthoujam Monica Devi (Vice Captain), Nabam Yapu, PC Vansangzuali, Preetika Chettri, Purni Maya Guruny, Samayita Roy Prodhan, Sariba Khan, Sentilemla Imsong, Thoudam Mangalsana, Thoudam Niruta, Zuali, Abhi
East Zone: Deepti Sharma (Captain), Ashwani Kumari (Vice Captain), Richa Ghosh, Titas Sadhu, Saika Ishaque, Kashish Agarwal, Dhara Gujjar, RR Saha, AB Das, Annapurna Das, Suravi S Roy, Durga Kumari Murmu, Mamta Paswan, Ritu Kumari, Uma Chetry (Wicket Keeper), Rachna Singh, Sushree Dibyadarshini
Stand-By- Tanmayee Behara, Rizu Saha, Rashmi Dey, Monikha Das and Rameswari Nayak
North Zone: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Shafali Verma (Vice Captain), Pratika Rawal, Taniya Bhatia, Tanisha Chilan, Sushma Verma, Chitra Singh Jamwal, Parunika Sisodia, Nandani Sharma, Priyanka Sharma, Mannat Kashyap, Neera Chaudhary
South Zone: Roshini Kiran, Trisha Poojitha, Minnu Mani, Poorva Bhaidkar, Arundhati Reddy, Shabnam Shakil, Shreyanka Patil (Captain), Sahana Pawar, Sunanda Yatrekar, S Anusha, Sajana S, Tamanna Nigam, Durga M, Sonal Patil, G Kamalini
Central Zone: Sneh Rana (Captain), Punam Raut, Mona Meshram, D Hemalatha, Soumya Tiwari, Raghvi Bisht, Poonam Yadav, Komal Zanzad, Jyoti Chaudhary, Vaishnavi Sharma, SS Kalal, Nuzhat Parween, Arushi Goel, Kriti Gupta, Mansi Joshi
West Zone: Smriti Mandhana (Captain), Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia (Wicket-Keeper), AA Patil, Devika Vaidya, S B Pokharkar, Humairaa Kaazi, Riya Chaudhari, Radha Yadav, NY Patel, Sayali Satghare, Jagravi Pawar, Amrita Joseph, N Chavda, Bhavana Goplani
Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy 2023-24: Where to watch?
There is no streaming or broadcasting for this tournament. However, the scores will be available on the BCCI website and BCCI Women’s X handle.
Fans can enjoy exclusive and live updates on Women’s CricInsight’s X and Instagram handles as well.
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