2018 Women's World T20 schedule announced

The schedule for the first standalone Women's World T20 has been announced by the ICC. The tournament, slated to start on November 9 this year, will be played out in Guyana, St Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda.

DRS (Decision Review System) will be used for the first time in any World T20 event, which according to ICC, will be implemented to ensure "consistency in the use of technology in top world-level events".

The opening game of the tournament will feature India and New Zealand, with each side slated to play four group games ahead of the knockouts. Including three-time world champions Australia, the tournament will feature a total of ten teams, with the two finalists from the World T20 Qualifiers contesting with the eight qualified sides.

Bangladesh, Ireland, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Thailand, Uganda and the United Arab Emirates are the teams that will participate in the World T20 Qualifiers.

Speaking to the ICC on the announcement of the schedule, Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur said: “The announcement of the schedule marks the countdown to this big event and we are all really looking forward to playing in the West Indies. The ICC Women’s World Twenty20 will be a competitive tournament with some tough league matches early on and no team can take it easy at any stage. Naturally, expectations will be high from our team after our World Cup final appearance last year and we aim to be at our best during the tournament.”

After their opening game against New Zealand, the Indian team will face arch-rivals Pakistan, two days later on June 11. The rest of their two games, against Qualifiers 2, as well as Australia, will also be played in Guyana.

The last edition of the tournament, played alongside the men's edition in 2016, was won by the West Indies. India have been semi-finalists in 2009 and 2010, but haven't won the tournament yet.

Get all the latest updates about today's sports news and much more only @Sportskeeda.