After a prolonged period of uncertainty, the wheels of the Women’s T20 Challenge were finally set in motion and the tournament will commence on November 4.
As the Indian Premier League, the Women’s T20 Challenge will take place in the United Arab Emirates, amid rising cases of COVID-19 in India.
Inaugurated in 2018, the tournament started as a one-off exhibition match and has been slated to become the full-fledged Women’s IPL in the long run.
As of now, the premier tournament features three teams — Supernovas, Trailblazers and Velocity.
The Supernovas and Trailblazers were part of the inaugural edition, while Velocity joined the party in 2019.
However, Harmanpreet Kaur led Supernovas have been the most successful team in the competition, winning both the one-off exhibition match in 2018 and also the three-way tournament in 2019.
They will be looking to continue their emphatic domination even in the upcoming season of the Women’s T20 Challenge. The Supernovas boost of a formidable lineup with the likes of the skipper herself, young gun Jemimah Rodrigues, Sri Lankan captain Chamari Atapattu and ICC Women’s T20 World Cup star Poonam Yadav.
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The Supernovas will start their campaign against Velocity in the season-opener on November 4.
KEY PLAYERS
1. Jemimah Rodrigues
After the T20 World Cup in Australia this year, the 20-year-old has established herself as a talented batter in the shortest format of the game.
However, in spite of getting steady starts the youngster failed to push them to match-winning knock and that’s exactly what Rodrigues will try to do in her upcoming assignment.
She has amassed 930 runs in 44 T20 Internationals, averaging 26.57.
2. Chamari Atapattu
The Supernovas bolstered their lineup with the signing of the Sri Lankan skipper Chamari Atapattu. Known as an aggressive batter up the order, she is formidable with the willow, scoring 1646 runs in 85 outings.
Her T20 career-high knock of 113 in just 66 balls came just last year, against the mighty Australian side.
In the recently concluded T20 World Cup, the 30-year-old was the sixth-highest run-getter, just behind India’s Shafali Verma.
With 26 T20I wickets under her belt, the Kurunegala-born can chip in with some crucial scalps as well.
3. Poonam Yadav
India’s frontline spinner and T20 World Cup star turn Poonam Yadav is a proficient addition to Supernovas’ bowling arsenal.
The 29-year-old has 95 T20I wickets in 67 matches, with her best figures of 4/9 coming against the Bangladesh Women’s team in 2018.
At the Sydney Showground Stadium this year, she scalped four wickets against Australia, giving away just 19 runs and steering her national colours to an important victory.
SQUAD:
Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Jemimah Rodrigues (VC), Chamari Atapattu, 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.
