India Women captain Harmanpreet Kaur said Women's T20 Challenge’s scheduling clash with Australia’s Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) isn’t ideal but feels it will come as a much-needed boost for the game after the COVID-19 shutdown.

The three-team Women's competition has been staged every year since 2018 during the men’s Indian Premier League (IPL) matches, but this year, the exhibition games looked uncertain after the IPL 2020 was postponed in March following the Coronavirus outbreak.

However, the IPL 2020 is all set to be held in the United Arab Emirates after the T20 World Cup 2020 postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic – which offered Indian Women's team opportunity to return to action again in November 2020 since Women's T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia earlier this year.

The latest rescheduling will leave players with an option to choose one competition between Women's T20 Challenge and WBBL, and Kaur said it was a loss for both leagues.

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Kaur told Reuters by email: “We have been building something special with women's cricket in recent years, the board has backed us, and it is important for us to carry the momentum going forward.”

The hard-hitting batter was confident that the COVID-19 shutdown wouldn't rob women's cricket of its momentum in India.

She further added, “No, I am sure cricket fans definitely do remember our run to the final in the World Cup earlier this year. We are now facing some challenging times since and is important for us to get through this.”

On the upcoming Women's World Cup next year, she stated: “As a team and unit we have always grown and shown solidarity. If we perform together as a team I am sure we can reach the summit."

(With Reuters Inputs)