Nita Ambani (pictured), chairperson and founder of the Reliance Foundation, on Sunday (1 November) announced her support for women's cricket in India. As the first step in this direction, Jio and Reliance Foundation Education and Sports For All (RF ESA) have come in as sponsor for the upcoming Women's T20 Challenge.
In addition, Nita has offered the cricket facility at Jio Cricket Stadium, Navi Mumbai, for women cricketers. The state-of-the-art stadium can be used to conduct trials, camps and host competitive matches, throughout the year, all free of cost for the Indian national women’s team.
Women cricketers can also now benefit from rehabilitation and sports science amenities available at the Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital & Research Centre in Mumbai.
"My heartiest congratulations to BCCI for organising the Women's T20 Challenge. This is a progressive step towards the growth of women's cricket in India. I am delighted to offer my full support to this wonderful initiative. I have immense faith in the potential and capabilities of all our sportswomen," said Nita.
"Indian women cricketers have made the country proud with their outstanding achievements in ICC events over the last couple of years. Our aim is to ensure that we offer the best of infrastructure, training and rehab facilities to our girls. Players like Anjum, Mithali, Smriti, Harmanpreet and Poonam are great role models. I wish them and every member of the Indian women's squad even greater success and glory in their journey ahead," she added.
An extension of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Women's T20 Challenge will be played in Sharjah between three franchises - Supernovas, Trailblazers and Velocity led by Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj respectively, starting from November 4.
John Stephenson
john@cricketinvestor.co.uk
#Cricketnews #Women’sT20Challenge #RelianceFoundation #BCCI
