Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav, off-spin all-rounder Deepti Sharma, fast-bowling all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar, and off-spin all-rounder Sneh Rana on Thursday were named as captains for the four-team Senior Women's T20 Challenger Trophy, to be held from November 20-26 at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur.
India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and left-arm spinner Radha Yadav have been rested from the tournament to be played in a round-robin format with 14 players in each of the four squads announced by the All-India Women's Selection Committee.
While Poonam will captain India A side with Harleen Deol as her deputy, Deepti will be the skipper of the India B team with Shafali Verma as vice-captain. Pooja would be leading the India C side with Sabbhineni Meghana as her deputy, while Sneh will be the skipper of the India D team with Jemimah Rodrigues as vice-captain.
Interestingly, all four teams have a left-arm pacer in their squad for the T20 Challenger Trophy Railways' Anjali Sarvani in the A team, India and Karnataka pacer Monica Patel in the B side, Vidarbha's Komal Zanzad in the C team and Maharashtra's Shraddha Pokharkar in D side in a bid to identify pacers who can bring more variety into the bowling attack at the international level.
The competition will serve as a preparatory tournament for the Indian players ahead of the Women's T20 World Cup to be held in South Africa from February 10-26. India will be playing a five-match T20I series at home against T20 World Cup champions Australia, followed by a trip to South Africa in January to play in a tri-series featuring the hosts and West Indies, before participating in the showpiece event.
Squads:
India A: Poonam Yadav (captain), Harleen Deol (vice-captain), Muskan Malik, S. Sajna, Amanjot Kaur, Disha Kasat, Shriyanka Patil, Saika Ishaque, Meghna Singh, Anjali Sarwani, Sahana Pawar, Nuzhat Parween (wicket-keeper), Shivali Shinde (wicket-keeper) and S. Anusha
India B: Deepti Sharma (captain), Shafali Verma (vice-captain), Dhara Gujjar, Yuvashree, Arundhati Reddy, Nishu Chaudhary, Humeira Kazi, Devika Vaidya, S.S Kalal, Monica Patel, S.L. Meena, Simran Dil Bahadur, Taniyaa Sapna Bhatia (wicket-keeper) and Laxmi Yadav (wicket-keeper)
India C: Pooja Vastrakar (captain), S. Meghana (vice-captain), Priya Punia, Simran Shaikh, Tarranum Pathan, K.P. Navgire, Anjali Singh, Rashi Kanojia, Saranya Gadwal, Keerthy James, Komal Zanzad, Ajima Sangma, Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper) and Mamatha (wicket-keeper)
India D: Sneh Rana (captain), Jemimah Rodrigues (vice-captain), Ashwini Kumari, D. Hemalatha, Kanika Ahuja, Jasia Akhter, Yastika Bhatia, Priyanka Priyadarshini, Shikha Pandey, S.B. Pokharkar, Renuka Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Aparna Mondal (wicket-keeper) and Sushma Verma (wicket-keeper)
Schedule:
India A vs India C - November 20, 11AM IST
India B vs India D - November 20, 4:30PM IST
India A vs India B - November 22, 11AM IST
India C vs India D - November 22, 4:30PM IST
India A vs India D - November 24, 11AM IST
India B vs India C - November 24, 4:30PM IST
Final - November 26, 4:30PM IST