The India Red women's cricket team, previously known as India Senior, are an Indian women's cricket team that compete in the Senior Women's Challenger Trophy and the Senior Women's T20 Challenger Trophy. The team has no geographical base, instead being made up of some of the best players from across

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The side has won the 50 over Challenger Trophy three times.

History

India Red were first formed in 2008, as India Senior, to compete in the inaugural edition of the 50 over Senior Women's Challenger Trophy, a triangular tournament with teams made from the best players in India.

Jhulan Goswami Jhulan Nishit Goswami (born 25 November 1982) is an Indian cricketer. She plays as a right-arm medium fast bowler and right-handed batter. She is one of the fastest (female) bowler of all times and considered one of the greatest bowlers to ...

was announced as the

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

for the opening season. They started their season disappointingly by losing against India A by 31 runs, in the inaugural match of the tournament. Although they won their next match against India B, they did not qualify for the final and finished bottom of the league. In the following season, the team were renamed to India Red and competed in the 2009–10 Senior Women's T20 Challenger Trophy, where they again finished bottom of their group.

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

saw a return to the 50 over format, with

Reema Malhotra Reema Malhotra (born 17 October 1980) is an Indian former cricketer who played as a right-handed batter and right-arm leg break bowler. She appeared in one Test match, 41 One Day Internationals and 22 Twenty20 Internationals for India between ...

as the team captain. The side once again finished bottom of the league, with no wins. India Red saw improvement in the next season, as they clinched the tournament title for the first time by defeating India Blue by 41 runs. They also qualified for the final in the next three seasons playing against the same opponent, but lost each time. They lost by 60 runs in the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season, while in the following season, they lost thrillingly by 8 runs.

Smriti Mandhana Smriti Shriniwas Mandhana ( ; born 18 July 1996) is an Indian cricketer who represents the Indian women's national team. She plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Women's Premier League (WPL). In domestic cricket, she represents the Mah ...

captained the India Red in the 2015 season, as the team won every match of the group stage before losing in the final. The 2016–17 season saw India Red regain their title, beating India Blue in the final by 7 wickets helped by 62 * from Mandhana. After again finishing bottom of the group in 2017–18, the side reached the final of both the 50 over and returning 20 over tournaments, winning the 50 over title but losing the 20 over title. In 2019–20, the 50 over Challenger Trophy was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

and the T20 Challenger Trophy was competed with different teams.

Seasons

Senior Women's Challenger Trophy

Senior Women's T20 Challenger Trophy

Honours

* Senior Women's Challenger Trophy: ** Winners (3): 2011–12, 2016–17 & 2018–19 * Senior Women's T20 Challenger Trophy: ** Winners (0): ** ''Best Finish:'' Runners-up ( 2018–19)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:India Red women's cricket team Senior Women's Challenger Trophy teams