Jio Women’s T20 challenge 2020 will see three teams taking on each other in a four-match competition to claim this year’s title. Supernovas, Velocity, and Trailblazers will play each other once in the group stage with the top two heading for the final match on November 9. The tournament will commence on November 4 at Sharjah, as the first match of the Jio Women T20 challenge will be played between Supernovas led by Harmanpreet Kaur and Velocity led by Mithali Raj. Trailblazers led by Smriti Mandhana, on the other hand, will play their first game of the season tomorrow against Velocity. A total of 12 foreign players from England, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh, New Zealand and, Thailand are taking part in this edition.
| Match | Date | UAE Time | India Time | Team 1 | Team 2 | Venue |
| Match 1 | 04-Nov-20 | 6:00 PM | 7:30 PM | Supernovas | Velocity | Sharjah |
| Match 2 | 05-Nov-20 | 2:00 PM | 3:30 PM | Velocity | Trailblazers | Sharjah |
| Match 3 | 07-Nov-20 | 6:00 PM | 7:30 PM | Trailblazers | Supernovas | Sharjah |
| Match 4 | 09-Nov-20 | 6:00 PM | 7:30 PM | FINAL | Sharjah | |
Supernovas
Led by Harmanpreet Kaur, Supernovas boast of a strong line-up with exciting Indian names and some overseas stars. The experienced Sri Lanka captain Chamari Atapattu, former captain of Sri Lanka Shashikala Siriwardene, West Indians seamer Shekera Selman, and South African bowler Ayabonga Khaka are the four overseas members of Supernovas. From Indian counterpart, they have star batters Jemimah Rodrigues, off-spinner Anuja Patil, and keeper-batter Taniya Bhatia. Rodrigues ended as the highest run-scorer in last edition and always contributed to the successful campaigns of Supernovas. Two-time champions Supernovas have everything to defend their title if the high-profile names can do justice to the reputation.
Source: Twitter (IPL)
Jemimah Rodrigues, the player with highest runs in Women’s T20 Challenge 2020 will be expected to deliver yet another good show. Harmanpreet Kaur too after a not so great World Cup T20 performance would like to make a strong comeback. Chamari Atapattu was the 6th highest run-scorer of last T20 World Cup. Her experience is an asset to the side. Poonam Yadav was India’s most successful bowler in T20 World Cup with 10 wickets from five matches at an economy of 5.95. No wonder she will lead the bowling unit for the Supernovas.
Supernovas squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Jemimah Rodrigues (vice-capt), Chamari Atapattu, Priya Punia, Anuja Patil, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shashikala Siriwardene, Poonam Yadav, Shakera Selman, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar, Ayushi Soni, Ayabonga Khaka, Muskan Malik
Coach: Mamatha Maben
Velocity
Last year Velocity lost a close final to Supernovas when Radha Yadav managed to steal a four off the last ball. The runners-up Velocity are a mix of youth and experience, led by Mithali Raj aside. The middle-order batter Veda Krishnamurthy, wicketkeeper-batter Sushma Verma, and the all-rounder Shikha Pandey are the Indian stars that the side should rely on. The presence of South Africa’s Sune Luus and New Zealand’s Leigh Kasperek, England’s Danni Wyatt and Bangladesh’s Jahanara Alam are added advantage. Meghna Joshi has replaced India pacer Mansi Joshi after the latter was found positive for Covid-19.
Source: Twitter (IPL)
All eyes be on Shafali Verma as this will be her first T20 Challenge. Verma was the highest run-scorer for India in the last T20 World Cup with 163 runs in five matches with a strike rate above 158. While the experienced ones are expected to deliver a good show, Shafali Verma gets another chance to showcase her calibre and potential. The 21-year-old uncapped offspinner Sushree Dibyadarshini is another young member of the Velocity. Mithali Raj is expected to utilize these young talents along with the prominent names of the side for a successful campaign.
Velocity squad: Mithali Raj (capt), Veda Krishnamurthy (vice-capt), Shafali Verma, Sushma Verma (wk), Ekta Bisht, Shikha Pandey, Devika Vaidya, Sushree Dibyadarshini, Manali Dakshini, Leigh Kasperek, Danielle Wyatt, Sune Luus, Jahanara Alam, M Anagha, Meghna Singh
Coach: Suman Sharma
Trailblazers
Smriti Mandhana’s Trailblazers managed to win one match in the last edition but it was a close encounter. Moreover, they defeated the eventual champions Supernovas by two runs. Although they failed to replicate the same in their next fixture against Velocity, it is time to start afresh. With the presence of Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Nattakan Chantam the third team of the league can run a good show on field. The bowling unit of Trailblazers is arguably the best one in the league, thanks to Sophie Ecclestone and Jhulan Goswami.
Source: Twitter (IPL)
The bunch of all-rounders will have extra responsibility especially as the batting is mostly Mandhana-centric. While Deepti Sharma is expected to help the side with her all-around skills, Deandra Dottin can any day win a match singlehandedly. Nattakan Chantam’s inclusion has strengthened their batting core as well who amazed all with her strokeplays. Chantham has been impressive with the bat, accumulating 103 runs in just four innings with a strike rate of 83.73 and an average of 25.75. They have the No. 1-ranked T20I bowler Ecclestone and India’s most experienced fast bowler Jhulan Goswami.
Trailblazers squad: Smriti Mandhana (capt), Deepti Sharma (vice-capt), Punam Raut, Richa Ghosh, D Hemalatha, Nuzhat Parween (wk), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Harleen Deol, Jhulan Goswami, Simaran Dil Bahadur, Salma Khatun, Sophie Ecclestone, Nattakan Chantam, Deandra Dottin, Kashvee Gautam
Coach: Nandita Adhiya