Cricketers playing for Velocity and Trailblazers in the upcoming Women’s T20 Challenge hit the nets in Dubai after finishing the quarantine period in the United Arab Emirates.

For the Indian players present, this was the first net session since March, when they reached the final of the T20 World Cup in Australia.

A video clip of the teams training at the ICC Academy and captains talking to the teams was uploaded by the IPL Twitter account. The Women’s T20 Challenge, to be played between three teams, will be held in Sharjah during the Indian Premier League playoffs.

Team captains Mithali Raj and Smriti Mandhana spoke about getting back in the groove, looking in good touch and not exerting too much given the long break.

“We are not here to judge anybody, all of us are coming from a quarantine period,” Raj is heard telling her team in the video.

“For the first two days we are working on getting your basics right. Once the flow comes, you’ll ease into it, don’t try to get into it in the first day itself. Hydrate yourself. Even if it’s for 20 minutes, the intensity and intent should be there but don’t try to push too hard.”

Mandhana added: “It was a fun net session, I didn’t really expect to time the ball so well. It was much better than I had expected, it feels good to be back in the nets after almost six-seven months.

“Coming here to Dubai, all the girls are very excited. We had a good fielding session and surprisingly everyone is looking in touch, I thought the first day would be a bit rusty. We are looking forward to the matches.”

Bonus viewing, Velocity’s Veda Krishnamurthy interviewed openers Danielle Wyatt and Shafali Verma.