India Women and their teams in The Hundred

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already granted four women players- Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma- No Objection Certificates (NOC) to take part in the inaugural edition of The Hundred, set to get underway on July 21. However, there won’t be any male Indian player taking part in the T20 championship in England.

Harbhajan Singh registered himself for the draft but pulled out after realising that he had to announce his international retirement and sacrifice his IPL contract in order to play in The Hundred. In the women’s edition, Kaur, Mandhana, Sharma and Rodrigues are set to play for Manchester Originals, Southern Brave, London Spirit and Northern Superchargers respectively.

India Women to stay back after Test against England

As per reports in ESPNcricinfo, Shafali Verma, the ICC’s no.1 ranked T20I batter is also on the radar of a team as a potential replacement player. The Indian women’s team is set to play a Test against England starting June 16 followed by three ODIs and as many T20Is from June 27 to July 15. The Indian contingent will stay back with the 100-ball competition starting on July 21.

The Oval Invincibles and the Originals are to lock horns following which on the next day, the men’s teams get to play against each other. Earlier, Mandhana, Kaur, Sharma and Rodrigues plied their trade in the scrapped Kia Super League. If the 17-year-old Shafali manages to get a contract in The Hundred, it would be her first deal in any overseas T20 domestic tournament.

Verma has also represented India and turned up for the Mithali Raj-led Velocity in the Women’s T20 Challenge. She also played a pivotal role in India playing the final of the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia. In the tournament, the youngster notched 163 runs at a strike rate of 158.25, the highest among players with 100 runs or more in the mega event.

For the upcoming T20 league, 20 of the 24 overseas signings have already been announced. Among big names taking part in The Hundred are Marizanne Kapp, Dane van Niekerk and Ellyse Perry, among others. The Indian women’s team recently played a bilateral ODI and T20I series against South Africa.