Harmanpreet, Smriti and Mithali to captain sides at Women’s T20 Challenge

Harmanpreet Kaur will lead Supernovas, while Smriti Mandhana will be captaining the Trailblazers. The new team in the Women’s T20 Challenge beginning on May 6, Velocity, will be led by Mithali Raj.

Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur led the two sides — The Trailblazers and The Supernovas — for the one-off match last year.

Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj will be leading the three respective teams in the Women’s T20 Challenge, which be played in Jaipur from May 6.

Harmanpreet will lead Supernovas, while Smriti will be captaining the Trailblazers. The new team, Velocity, will be led by Mithali Raj.

Sportstar  can confirm that 39 players have been divided into three teams, with each having four overseas players.

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“Our target is to promote women’s cricket in the country and this is a step in the right direction,” a BCCI official said.

India’s women’s team coach, WV Raman, will coach the Supernovas, while Biju George will be in-charge of the Trailblazers. Velocity will be coached by former India captain Mamatha Maben.

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In a bid to develop women’s cricket, the BCCI had conducted an exhibition women’s match during the IPL play-offs last year, where two teams had participated. But this time, the three teams will play round-robin league matches on May 6, 8 and 9. The first and the second placed teams will play the final at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on May 11. All the fixtures will be telecast live on Star Sports.

The teams are likely to host training sessions in Jaipur from May 2.

Squads

Supernovas:  Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Anuja Patil, Arundhati Reddy,Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka), Jemimah Rodrigues, Lea Tahuhu (New Zealand), Mansi Joshi, Natalie Sciver (England), Poonam Yadav, Priya Punia, Radha Yadav, Sophie Devine (New Zealand), Taniya Bhatia (wicketkeeper).

Coach :  WV Raman

Physio: Tracey Fernandes, Trainer: Afzal Khan, Manager: Trupti, Masseur: Rashmi Pawar.

Trailblazers : Smriti Mandhana (captain), Bharti Fulmali, Dayalan Hemalatha, Deepti Sharma, Harleen Deol, Jasia Akhtar, Jhulan Goswami, R Kalpana (wicketkeeper), Rajeshwari Gayakwad,

Shakera Selman (West Indies), Sophie Ecclestone (England), Stafanie Taylor (West Indies), Suzie Bates (New Zealand).

Coach :  Biju George

Physio: Khyati Sharma, Trainer: Soham Desai, Manager: Yet to be decided, Masseur: Nirmala.

Velocity:  Mithali Raj (captain), Amelia Kerr (New Zealand), Danielle Wyatt (England), Devika Vaidya, Ekta Bisht, Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Jahanara Alam (Bangladesh), Komal Zhanzad, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sushma Verma (wicketkeeper), Sushree Dibyadarshini, Veda Krishnamurthy.

Coach :  Mamatha Maben

Physio: Prachi Lotlikar, Trainer: R Naresh, Manager: Vikas Pandit, Masseur: Niraja Desai.

Fixtures

May 6: Supernovas vs Trailblazers

May 8: Trailblazers vs Velocity

May 9: Supernovas vs Velocity

May 11: Final -- First-placed team vs second placed team