For the four-team Senior Women's T20 Challenger Trophy, which will take place from November 20–26 at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur, leg-spinner Poonam Yadav, off-spin all-rounder Deepti Sharma, fast-bowling all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar, and off-spin all-rounder Sneh Rana were named as captains on Thursday.
The All-India Women's Selection Committee declared that the event will be played in a round-robin style with 14 players in each of the four squads, and that the captain of India, Harmanpreet Kaur, vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, and left-arm spinner Radha Yadav would be rested.
The India A squad will be led by Poonam, with Harleen Deol serving as her deputy; the India B team will be led by Deepti, with Shafali Verma serving as vice-captain. The India C squad would be captained by Pooja, with Sabbhineni Meghana serving as her deputy, and the India D team would be led by Sneh, with Jemimah Rodrigues serving as vice-captain.
In an effort to find pacers who can add more variety to the bowling attack at the international level, all four teams for the T20 Challenger Trophy have a left-arm pacer in their squads: Anjali Sarvani of Railways is in the A team, Monica Patel of India and Karnataka is in the B team, Komal Zanzad of Vidarbha is in the C team, and Shraddha Pokharkar of Maharashtra is in the D side.
For the Indian athletes, the competition will act as a warm-up match before the Women's T20 World Cup, which will take place in South Africa from February 10–26. Prior to competing in the main event, India will play a five-match T20I series against the T20 World Cup champions Australia at home. After that, they will go to South Africa to compete in a tri-series against the hosts and the West Indies.
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)