Players told to be ready for 2021 Women’s T20 Challenge cancellation

The 2021 Women’s T20 Challenge, which was supposed to be played in New Delhi, is likely to be postponed in the face of the prevailing Covid-19 situation in India. The players have been intimated the same in an unofficial capacity with few reaching out to Dhiraj Malhotra, BCCI’S GM - Cricket Operations.

With the pandemic condition worsening in India, there has been a lot of discourse regarding the Indian Premier League. Many foreign players have pulled out of the league citing their fear over the concerned state of virus in India, but BCCI Interim CEO and IPL COO, Hemang Amin wrote to the players that the bubble is safe for everyone concerned and there shouldn’t be any hesitancy. 

However, the pandemic has further cast a fresh shadow on the women’s event, with many states announcing lockdown in the face of crumbling health infrastructure in the country. The lack of Oxygen supply coupled with the growing fatality rate is testing the patience of the Indian healthcare system.

When senior Indian players reached out to the BCCI to have an update on the annual exhibition event - seen as a prelude for a full-fledged Women’s IPL - the BCCI stayed non-committal about it. Earlier, the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi was fixed as the tentative venue for the week-long event during the Play-offs week of the IPL. 

“This is devastating news for us. We genuinely thought this edition will give us some very important game time before we take on the English side. All come crashing down now. Calls have gone unanswered at the moment. That was the least we expected,” a senior Indian cricketer, who played in all three editions of the Women’s T20 Challenge, told Cricket.com.

Cricket.com further reached out to a senior BCCI official but he remained tight-lipped about it while adding that the primary focus of the BCCI remains to deliver a safe and sound IPL. However, it is understood that the logistical challenges of flying overseas players due to the ongoing restrictions that saw many Aussie players pulling out is a huge concern. An official announcement is expected really soon.