BCCI to hold women’s red-ball event in Pune starting March 28.

The Maharashtra Cricket Association will organize the women’s red ball event, which will include six teams. The move follows the Indian women’s team’s return to Test cricket. In recent years, the team has played test matches against Australia and England. Domestic red ball cricket for women was last played in 2018.

The women’s domestic red-ball competition comes shortly after India won successive one-off Tests against England and Australia in December of last year. India played Tests on their tours of England and Australia in 2021, although the Indian women last played Tests at home in 2014, prior to 2023.

Women’s red-ball cricket will return to India’s domestic schedule after six years when the BCCI hosts the Senior Inter Zonal Multi-Day Trophy in Pune beginning March 28. The move follows the Indian women’s team’s return to Test cricket. In recent years, the team has played test matches against Australia and England. Domestic red ball cricket for women was last played in 2018.

“It is a positive step by the BCCI. Former India bowler Amita Sharma told PTI that the national team has resumed Test cricket, and the next generation of cricketers must play red ball cricket at the grassroots level.

“I’d also like to see red ball played at the state level rather than just the zonal level. “Back then, we had both of those events,” she remarked.

The event will begin immediately after the current Women’s Premier League, which concludes on March 17. The Maharashtra Cricket Association will host the tournament, which will include six teams representing the East, West, North, South, Central, and North-East zones. They will compete in a series of five matches, each lasting three days, one more than the two-day games played during the 2018 season.

All games will be played over three days. The competition will begin just over ten days after the final of the second season of the Women’s Premier League, which is set for March 17 in New Delhi. The quarterfinals between the East Zone and North East Zone, as well as the West Zone and Central Zone, will take place on March 28, followed by the semifinals on April 3. The final is slated on April 9.

There has recently been a call for more women’s Tests, with the occasional Test featuring Australia, England, India, and South Africa. This means that India will be playing a cricket format with which they are unfamiliar.