Four Indian women cricketers have been granted No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to allow their participation in a one of its kind competition – The Hundred reported Annesha Ghosh on ESPN Cricinfo. The tournament is set to begin from July 21 with 8 teams participating in total, and the first game of the inaugural tournament being played by the women.
As per a report, it is understood that the BCCI has already sent the NOCs to England Cricket Board (ECB). Though there hasn’t been any official announcement yet, it is likely to happen soon. The four Indian players will continue to stay in the UK after the completion of the one-off Test, T20I, and ODI series against England, ending July 15th.
Before The Hundred, four India players namely Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Deepti Sharma, and Jemimah Rodrigues had made their way into the Kia Super League, which used to be the ECB’s domestic T20 tournament.
Who could be those 4 Indian players? Take a guess 😃#TheHundred pic.twitter.com/SDmklUIkbE
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) May 4, 2021
As the tournament has slots for 24 overseas players, 20 slots have been filled, leaving just 4 slots. 11 players, out of the acquired 20 slots are from the Australian contingent. Also, out of the 8 teams involved, only 4 teams have vacant overseas players slots available. The teams are- London Spirit, Northern Superchargers, Southern Brave, and Manchester Originals. The other 4 teams namely Birmingham Phoenix, Oval Invincibles, Trent Rockets, and Welsh Fire have completed their squad including the overseas players.
With Ellyse being the 20th player to join the competition, the ECB was looking forward to filling the 4 overseas slots with the inclusion of Indian players, after approval from the BCCI. 11 players from team Australia, 5 from South Africa, 2 from New Zealand and 2 West Indies players have signed up for the competition so far.
After the tournament was postponed last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Hundred will kick start with a women’s tournament this year, after being canceled last year due to the pandemic. The first match will be played between Manchester Originals and Oval Invincibles in London on July 21, followed by the Birmingham Phoenix locking horns with London Spirit at Edgbaston on July 23.
Smriti Mandhana, during the South Africa Tour of India, had confirmed that the BCCI administration was in talks with the ECB regarding the NOCs. The teams at the Hundred have time until June to finalize their teams, filling the squad with the respective overseas players.
An official statement about the 4 selected Indian players from the tournament organizer is awaited.
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