The 2020 edition of Women’s T20 Challenge is scheduled to take place in the UAE in November. For this, Indian players have been asked to gather in Mumbai by October 13 so that they could undergo the mandatory quarantine before leaving for the UAE for the three-team competition.
While the BCCI has not announced the squads yet, Indian players, both international and uncapped domestic, have been informed about their selection as well. After reaching in Mumbai, the players will stay in quarantine for more than a week and multiple tested will be done during that period. Meanwhile, the players are likely to fly for UAE on October 22 and after reaching there, they will undergo a six-day quarantine period.
They will enter the bio-bubble after three negative RT-PCR tests. The tournament will begin on November 4 and conclude on 9. Experienced players Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami will also take part in the tournament. Notably, they both have retired from the shortest format of the game.
“The players have been informed and a WhatsApp group has been created. A few U-19 players have also been picked. It will give them a lot of exposure,” a BCCI official told PTI on Friday.
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However, all four games of the Women’s T20 Challenge are likely to be played in Sharjah, which is also the smallest ground among the three IPL venues. After their mandatory quarantine period in Mumbai and UAE, the players will get less than a week to adjust with the conditions there in the UAE. Meanwhile, the Indian team last played in the ICC T20 World Cup Final in March.
“It will be a challenge for sure. We have been training individually but the intensity of a team environment cannot be matched. We will quarantine in Mumbai for more than a week and then another week in Dubai. There will be three to four days before the event starts. Obviously, it is not going to be easy to perform,” shared a player on conditions of anonymity.
On the other hand, amid the COVID-19 pandemic situation, there was uncertainty over the Women’s T20 Challenge until BCCI president Sourav Ganguly confirmed it that it will take place during the IPL play-offs. The players from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and a few from England and West Indies are likely to be featured in the tournament.
