'Another awesome development for women's cricket' – Ellyse Perry

The announcement from the Board of Control for Cricket in India that an exhibition Women’s T20 Challenge match would be played before Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 has led to much excitement.

International stars including Suzie Bates, Ellyse Perry and Danni Wyatt have been named to feature in the game at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on 22 May. India’s T20 captain and vice-captain, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana respectively, are set to lead the two teams.

"The opportunity to play ahead of the men's IPL match, it was hard to turn that down," said New Zealand's Sophie Devine, who will be a part of the match. "The game really is going global. We've seen the Women's Big Bash League, the Kia Super League, and hopefully in a few years, the women's IPL. It just shows that the women's game is on the up."

Perry, who was part of the Australia team that beat England to lift the Twenty20 International tri-series title in Mumbai in April, was looking forward to "another awesome development for women's cricket".

Megan Schutt, the No.1 bowler on the MRF Tyres ICC T20I Bowling Rankings for women, was happy that her job would be just a little bit easier than usual in India.

Wyatt and Bates were already making plans for Mumbai.

Amy Satterthwaite and the recently retired Alex Blackwell won't be among those playing, but they were excited about what the game meant for the future of T20 cricket in India.