Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana likely to miss WBBL due to national duties
India Women cricketers Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, and Jemimah Rodrigues are likely to miss out on featuring in the fifth Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), starting later this year. According to the latest report, the Indian team is supposed to tour West Indies around the same time.
The Women's Big Bash League is set to kick off its fifth edition this year from October 18 to December 8. But it's bad news for the Indian cricketers since the T20 league will likely to clash with India's tour of the West Indies, which will supposedly start on October 23 and span around a month's time. This leaves the players with a very limited window towards the end of the WBBL season.
Because of her scheduling, the WBBL franchise Sydney Thunder, who have been in association with India's T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur since 2016/17 season did not offer her a contract extension. Kaur was also approached by the Melbourne Stars.
Meanwhile, Mandhana who was contracted with the Hobart Hurricanes, was set to continue for a second consecutive edition. She had earlier been part of the Brisbane Heat in 2016-17. And the 19-year-old Rodrigues, who as yet to receive a contract but was sure to receive one might miss out due to her scheduling.
"The BCCI doesn't discourage any of our women's players from taking part in overseas leagues as long as their participation (in those tournaments) doesn't clash with their national duties," BCCI's general manager (cricket operations) Saba Karim said. "In this case, there's an international series to be played, so that will automatically be on top of their list of priorities."
The Indian team, which is currently playing five T20I series against South Africa and leading by 1-0, will also play three ODIs in the home series.