Women’s T20 Challenger, final: A golden opportunity for youngsters to impress

India A and India D have played some fine cricket in the Women’s T20 Challenger and more of it is expected from them at the Veer Shaheed Narayan Stadium in Raipur.

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE: The final will provide another chance for youngsters to rub shoulders with the likes of Jemimah Rodrigues, Renuka Singh, Yastika Bhatia, and Poonam Yadav. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

It was only in the last match of the league phase that the Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy produced a close finish. The two teams that featured in that exciting encounter – India-A and India-D – are coming face to face in the final too, on Saturday.

These two sides have played some fine cricket in the competition and more of it is expected from them at the Veer Shaheed Narayan Stadium. But in a tournament like this, what matters more is the opportunity for the young or fringe players, especially given the presence of chief selector Neetu David and a talent scout from a Women’s IPL franchise.

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So players like Anjali Sarvani, Shivali Shinde, Sahana Pawar, Shraddha Pokharkar, Nuzhat Parween and Ashwani Kumari should be determined to catch their eye with yet another fine show. It is also yet another chance for them to rub shoulders with stars like Jemimah Rodrigues, Renuka Singh, Yastika Bhatia and Poonam Yadav.

“Tournaments like this will help our young players,” said Renuka. “We have seen the pacers doing well here. And it is nice that quite a few of them are coming up.”