India Women's cricketers to play in club tournament due to uncertainty over international schedule
A number of India Women's leading international cricketers, including Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma, will take part in a club cricket tournament in Bangalore this month. The T20 tournament is due to get underway on January 4 and will end on January 12.
The India Women's cricket team has not played a competitive fixture since the T20 World Cup final against Australia in March. However, they did take part in the Women's T20 Challenge exhibition matches as part of the IPL in November.
With so much uncertainty surrounding the women's international schedule, it isn't yet clear when they will play next. India were scheduled to tour Australia for an ODI series this month, but that series was postponed.
Cricket Australia announced earlier this week that the tour will now take place as part of the 2021-22 season ahead of the 2022 ICC World Cup.
There is also no final word as of yet on when the women's domestic season will get underway. The men's domestic season is due to begin this month with the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy.
Bangalore T20 tournament to feature four teams and several leading Indian players
The club cricket tournament, which will be held in Bangalore, will see four teams face off to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Falcon Sports Club. Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Veda Krishnamurthy, and Rajeshwari Gayakwad are just some of the many India players who will take part.
Former India captain Shantha Rangaswamy and current BCCI Apex Council member said:
"The fact that there is not much cricket happening in the country (due to COVID-19), there has been increased interest from outstation players. They all are very keen to get back to the field. It is also a good opportunity for some of the younger uncapped players to rub shoulders with the best. The tournament will also give much-needed game time to our India players."
The players coming in from other state will have to provide a negative COVID-19 test before being allowed to play in the tournament.