BCCI to conduct women's red-ball tournament in Pune from March 28

The move comes after the Indian women's team's return to Test cricket. The side has played Tests against Australia and England in recent years. Domestic red-ball cricket was last held in 2018

Women's red-ball cricket will return to India's domestic calendar after four years when the BCCI conducts a Senior Inter Zonal Multi-Day Trophy in Pune from March 28, the board announced on Friday.

The move comes after the Indian women's team's return to Test cricket. The side has played Tests against Australia and England in the recent years. Domestic red ball cricket for women was last held in 2018.

"It is a welcome step taken by BCCI. The national team has started playing Test cricket again and we need the next generation of cricketers to play red ball cricket at the domestic level," former India pacer Amita Sharma told PTI.

"I would also want red ball to be played at the state level and not just zonal level. Back in the day we had both those events," she added.

The Maharashtra Cricket Association will be hosting the tournament which will feature six teams, representing East, West, North, South, Central, and North-East zones.

They will be competing in a series of five matches to be played across three days each, which is a day more than the two-day games played in the 2018 season.

The tournament will begin right after the ongoing Women's Premier League, which ends on March 17.

It will start with the quarterfinals between East Zone and North East Zone and West Zone and Central Zone on March 28 with the semifinals slated on April 3.

The final is scheduled for April 9.