Women's T20 Challenge: From Smriti Mandhana to Mithali Raj, players arrive at UAE in full PPE kits

Indian women players on Thursday touched down at the United Arab Emirates for the upcoming Women's T20 Challenge trophy, scheduled to be held from November 4-9 in between the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. 

Women's T20 Challenge Squads:

Supernovas: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Jemimah Rodrigues (Vice-captain), Chamari Athapaththu, Priya Punia, Anuja Patil, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Shashikala Siriwardene, Poonam Yadav, Shakera Selman, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar, Ayushi Soni, Ayabonga Khaka, Muskan Malik

Trailblazers: Smriti Mandhana (Captain), Deepti Sharma (Vice-captain), Punam Raut, Richa Ghosh, D. Hemalatha, Nuzhat Parween (WK), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Harleen Deol, Jhulan Goswami, Simaran Dil Bahadur, Salma Khatun, Sophie Ecclestone, Natthakan Chantham, Deandra Dottin, Kashvee Gautam

Velocity: Mithali Raj (Captain), Veda Krishnamurthy (Vice-captain), Shafali Verma, Sushma Verma (WK), Ekta Bisht, Mansi Joshi, Shikha Pandey, Devika Vaidya, Sushree Dibyadarshini, Manali Dakshini, Leigh Kasperek, Danielle Wyatt, Sune Luus, Jahanara Alam, M. Anagha.

Indian women players on Thursday touched down at the United Arab Emirates for the upcoming Women's T20 Challenge trophy, scheduled to be held from November 4-9 in between the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. 

The players were seen wearing full PPE kits to safeguard themselves from the dreaded COVID-19. The much-awaited four-match tournament will see some of the top women players take the field after a prolonged break for the coveted trophy in the UAE.

For Mithali Raj-led Velocity, England’s star all-rounder Danielle Wyatt, New Zealand’s Leigh Kasperek, South Africa’s Sune Luus and Bangladesh’s Jahanara Alam have been named.

All the players will need to undergo a 6-day quarantine period upon arriving in the UAE. They will be tested for COVID-19 thrice in this period. However, Australian players won’t be seen playing in the much-awaited Women’s T20 Challenge due to the Women’s Big Bash League, set to start from October 25. 

Smriti Mandhana, Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur were named skippers of Trailblazers, Velocity and Supernovas, respectively with some big overseas names joining their squads.The likes of Jemimah Rodrigues (Supernovas), Deepti Sharma (Trailblazers) and Veda Krishnamurthy (Velocity) were named as vice-captains.

For Mandhana-led Trailblazers, Bangladesh’s Salma Khatun, England’s Sophie Ecclestone, West Indies’ Deandra Dottin and Thailand’s Natthakan Chantam will feature.