IPL 2020 might be nearing its end, but there’s plenty of action still to come from the UAE with the Women’s T20 Challenge set to get underway alongside the men’s playoffs.

Some of the top players in women’s cricket, both from India, and in international cricket, will feature  in the four-match tournament, aka the Women’s IPL. The tournament will be spread across five days, and will be held in the batting-friendly Sharjah International Stadium.

The Australia players will be conspicuous by their absence, given the Women’s Big Bash League clashes with the Women’s T20 Challenge. Despite that, there’s enough star value in the three teams contesting.

You can browse all three squads and team lists for the Women’s T20 Challenge, also called the women’s IPL, here.

Here are some of the biggest names set to feature in the Women’s T20 Challenge:

Women’s T20 Challenge – Domestic stars

Mithali Raj

Velocity (captain)

One of Indian cricket’s biggest names, Mithali might have quit T20I cricket, but will be one of the star attractions of the tournament. The highest run-getter in women’s ODIs, she’s also hit 2,364 T20I runs, the most by an Indian player, with seven fifties at an average of 37.52. Fans will be looking forward to seeing Mithali in action again, especially given the Women’s World Cup in 2022 is set to be her international swansong.

Jemimah Rodrigues

Supernovas (vice-captain)

Just 20, Rodrigues has made a name for herself with her freewheeling disposition both on and off the field. While she may not have set the stage alight in the T20 World Cup this year, a refreshed Rodrigues will be one of the top draws in the T20 Challenge, possessing a strike-rate of 111.24 in T20Is, and a high score of 72. Last year, she broke the record for the fastest century in the Women’s Cricket Super League, reaching three figures in just 51 balls.

Smriti Mandhana

Trailblazers (captain)

A prolific run-getter at the top of the order, Mandhana has totalled 1,716 runs in women’s T20Is, the third highest for India, and is renowned for her elegant stroke play. In 2019, she hit a 24-ball fifty against New Zealand, the fastest by an Indian woman in the format, and boasts a strike-rate of 119.41. She took just as many deliveries to score a half-century in a Women’s BBL game as well, while featuring for Hobart Hurricanes in 2018.

Harmanpreet Kaur

Supernovas (captain)

India Women’s T20I captain, Harmanpreet is one of the game’s fiercest strikers of the ball. She made waves when she hit an unbeaten 171 against Australia in 2017, the highest score for India in a women’s ODI World Cup game. Last year, she became the first Indian cricketer [male or female], to collect 100 T20I appearances, and is the only Indian woman with a century to her name in the format.

Jhulan Goswami

Trailblazers

The legendary India quick might be 37, but she brings with her decades of experience. The highest ODI wicket-taker in women’s history, Goswami retired from T20Is in 2018, with 56 wickets in 68 matches, the then-highest tally by an Indian bowler. Much like Mithali, Goswami, the former India captain, will be looking to get back to playing competitive cricket after a long break.

Women’s T20 Challenge – International stars

Chamari Atapattu

Supernovas

An imperious left-handed batter, Atapattu is the cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s batting and one of the leading bats in white-ball cricket. In 2017, during a World Cup game against Australia, Atapattu carved a 143-ball 178* – 69 per cent of the team’s runs – and the third highest score in women’s ODIs. Against the same team last year, Atapattu scored a 60-ball T20I century. Expect big things from her.

Danielle Wyatt

Velocity

One of the most experienced players in women’s T20Is with 113 appearances, Wyatt is a hard-hitting all-rounder who bowls off-spin. Her strike-rate in the format stands at 122.74, and she has picked up 46 wickets at an economy of 5.65. She’s hit two T20I centuries, one each against Australia [2017] and India [2018]. She’s certainly one to look out for in Sharjah.

Deandra Dottin

Trailblazers

An explosive batter who also bowls medium pace, Dottin scored the first-ever T20I century in women’s cricket, blazing to the landmark in just 38 balls in 2010. Three years ago, she hit another century in the format, and has scored over 2,500 T20I runs, one of only five women’s cricketers to do so. Along with this, the 2016 Women’s T20 World Cup winner has taken 61 wickets in the format @ 18.44, with a best of 5-5.

Sophie Ecclestone

Trailblazers

ICC’s Emerging Player of the Year in 2018, Ecclestone might just be 21, but has been playing internationals for the past four years. The left-arm spinner has so far picked up 56 wickets in 39 T20Is, and shot up to the ICC women’s T20I bowler’s rankings last year, a spot she continues to occupy. At the T20 World Cup, her economy stood at a miserly 3.23, where she plucked eight wickets in four games.

Salma Khatun

Trailblazers

The Bangladesh all-rounder has been the torchbearer of women’s sport in the country for years now. She’s captained the team in 83 of her 108 international games, and shot up to beome the No.1 ranked women’s bowler and all-rounder in the ICC T20I rankings. Currently ranked eighth in the T20I all-rounders’ rankings, the 30-year-old off-spinner has picked up 66 wickets in 74 games so far, at a commendable economy rate of 4.84, with best figures of 4-6. On Sharjah’s pitches, she could be more than a handful.

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