ST JOHN’S, Antigua- Stafanie Taylor, Hayley Matthews and Shakera Selman of the West Indies Women’s team will join their international counterparts to participate in the four-match tri-series being hosted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) from May 6-11 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.
Stafanie and Shakera will play for the Trailblazers, captained by Smriti Mandhana, while Hayley will play for Velocity, captained by Mithali Raj.
India holds special memories for the West Indies Women’s team as they won their first ICC Women’s World T20 title there in 2016. Captain of that winning 2016 team Stafanie Taylor is excited about returning to play in India, “I’ve always enjoyed playing in India but this will be a new experience for me. I’m looking forward to soaking up the atmosphere that I’ve seen in the IPL on TV and I’m hoping that this season will be a catalyst to have an actual women’s IPL.”
Stafanie added, “I feel proud to be one of three West Indies Women’s players chosen to participate this year and we’re going to bring the West Indian T20 flare that the world likes to see.”
Shakera Selman who will be steaming into the pace attack for the Trailblazers alongside Indian pacer Jhulan Goswami is relishing the opportunity to play along her West Indies captain and the other international players. Shakera said, “I’m grateful to be afforded the opportunity to take part in the Women’s T20 challenge, as it’s another chance to showcase my talent alongside some of the best female cricketers in the game. And I am hopeful that this challenge be used to develop a women’s IPL.”
Meanwhile Hayley Matthews who will be challenging her West Indies Women’s teammates, echoed similar sentiments saying, “It’s an honour to be able to participate in such a huge initiative in women’s cricket. I’m really looking forward to playing alongside some of the best players in the world and being able to play my role in helping to grow women’s cricket.”
Jimmy Adams, Cricket West Indies Director Cricket, congratulated the three West Indies women players on their selection: “We’re delighted that Stafanie, Shakera and Hayley have the chance to experience this tournament and showcase West Indies women’s cricket talent at the same time. It’s unfortunate that Deandra Dottin was not able to participate due to injury. We’ll be watching out for the performances and welcome this initiative from the BCCI.”
Women’s T20 Cricket Challenge Squads:
SUPERNOVAS: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Anuja Patil, Arundhati Reddy, Chamari Athapaththu, Jemimah Rodrigues, Lea Tahuhu, Mansi Joshi, Natalie Sciver, Poonam Yadav, Priya Punia, Radha P Yadav, Sophie Devine, Taniya Bhatia, W V Raman (Coach)
TRAILBLAZERS: Smriti Mandhana (c), Bharti Fulmali, Dayalan Hemalatha, Deepti Sharma, Harleen Deol, Jasia Akhtar, Jhulan Goswami, R Kalpana, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shakera Selman, Sophie Ecclestone, Stafanie Taylor, Suzie Bates, Biju George (Coach)
VELOCITY: Mithali Raj (c), Amelia Kerr, Danielle Wyatt, Devika Vaidya, Ekta Bisht, Hayley Matthews, Jahanara Alam, Komal Zhanzad, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sushma Verma, Sushree Dibyadarshini, Veda Krishnamurthy, Mamta Maben (Coach)
Schedule:
6th May – Supernovas vs Trailblazers
8th May – Trailblazers vs Velocity
9th May – Supernovas vs Velocity
11th May – Final (1st vs 2nd place
-CWI
