On Saturday, the BCCI announced the schedule of the domestic cricket season for the 2021-22 campaign that is set to kick start from September 21 with the Senior Women’s One Day League. The board will conduct all its domestic tournaments across age groups, as per the schedule announced. A total of 899 matches will be played across different age groups in women’s cricket.
Women’s domestic season schedule
| Category | Tournament | Start Date | End Date | No of matches |
| Senior | Women’s One-Day League | September 21, 2021 | October 22, 2021 | 160 |
| Senior | Women’s One-Day Challenger Trophy | October 27, 2021 | October 31, 2021 | 4 |
| Senior | Women’s T20 League | March 19, 2022 | April 11, 2022 | 142 |
| Women’s U-23 | Women’s U-23 T20 League | January 17, 2022 | February 7, 2022 | 142 |
| Women’s U-23 | Women’s U-23 One-Day League | February 11, 2022 | March 15, 2022 | 160 |
| Women’s U-19 | Women’s U-19 One-Day League | October 1, 2021 | October 31, 2021 | 152 |
| Women’s U-19 | Women’s T20 League | November 4, 2021 | November 27, 2021 | 135 |
| Women’s U-19 | Women’s U-19 One-Day Challenger Trophy | December 1, 2021 | December 5, 2021 | 4 |
The year 2020 did not see much cricketing action in the domestic circuit due to the COVID 19 pandemic. In an attempt to consolidate the lost time, the BCCI is planning for a full-fledged domestic season for women. It will be challenging even for the players to get match fit in a matter of just two and half months. Though at the outset the BCCI’s plan looks a bit ambitious, there is no doubt that it has succeeded in bringing back hope for the players and others associated with the sport.
While the Indian national women’s cricket team is fighting tooth and nail in the UK, the girls back home will be training hard to make the most of the domestic season that lies ahead of them. Players like Indrani Roy and Sneh Rana, riding on their stellar domestic performances made the cut into the Indian side. Just like Roy and Rana there are many others waiting to sport the national colors and what better opportunity could they have asked for than a proper domestic season at their disposal.
I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.
