Mithali, Harmanpreet, Smriti named captains as BCCI announces squads for Women's T20 Challenge

Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Smriti Mandhana named captains of Supernovas, Trailblazers, and Velocity respectively as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on Sunday, announced squads for Women's T20 Challenge.

The tournament will mark the return of Indian women's cricketers after a long break due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The four-match tournament, which will bring together women's cricket stars from England, South Africa Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh, New Zealand, and India, is scheduled to be played in the UAE from Nov. 4 to Nov. 9. The Women's T20 Challenge is set to be squeezed in between the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 in the UAE.

The Women's T20 Challenge will feature some of the well-known overseas players such as Sri Lanka's Shashikala Siriwardene, Bangladesh's Salma Khatun, White Ferns' Leigh Kasperek, England's Danielle Wyatt, Sane Luus of South Africa, West Indian star Deandra Dottin.

Thailand's Natthakan Chantham, who scored her country's first Women's T20 World Cup half-century, once again is set to put her country in world cricket's map as she will become the first Thai cricketer to feature in the tournament. According to a statement from the official IPL website, the All-India Women's Selection Committee picked the three squads.

The Supernovas are the defending champions, having defeated Velocity by four wickets in the previous editions' final that was played in Jaipur. The two sides will face off in the opening fixture of Women's T20 Challenge 2020 on Nov. 4.

Here is the schedule of Women's T20 Challenge 2020:

Match 1: Supernovas vs Velocity - November 4, 7:30 PM IST

Match 2: Velocity vs Trailblazers - November 5, 3:30 PM IST

Match 3: Trailblazers vs Supernovas - November 7, 7:30 PM IST

Final: November 9, 7:30 PM IST

Here are the full squads:

Supernovas: 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, Ayushi Soni, Ayabonga Khaka, Muskan Malik.

Trailblazers: Smriti Mandhana (c), Deepti Sharma (vc), 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 (c), Veda Krishnamurthy (vc), Shafali Verma, Sushma Verma (wk), Ekta Bisht, Mansi Joshi, Shikha Pandey, Devika Vaidya, Sushree Dibyadarshini, Manali Dakshini, Leigh Kasperek, Danielle Wyatt, Sene Luus, Jahanara Alam, M Anagha.