Indian women cricketers Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues are likely to miss the first standalone Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), scheduled to begin from October 18. The Australian T20 League is expected to clash with India's tour of the West Indies for which the team is tentatively slated to depart on October 23.

Hence, there will be a limited window left towards the end of what will be the fifth season of the WBBL.

“The BCCI doesn't discourage any of our women's players from taking part in overseas leagues as long as their participation (in those tournaments) doesn't clash with their national duties,” BCCI's general manager (cricket operations) Saba Karim said. “In this case, there's an international series to be played, so that will automatically be on top of their list of priorities.”

Besides the schedule, it has been learned that the players were keen to be fresh for India's tour of Australia next year which will feature a tri-series involving England - from January 31 to February 12 - ahead of the Women's T20 World Cup to be held there in February-March.

WBBL franchise Sydney Thunder did not offer a contract extension to Harmanpreet because of the scheduling. Meanwhile, Mandhana who was contracted with the Hobart Hurricanes was set to continue for a second consecutive edition.

19-year-old Rodrigues, who has been on the radar of at least two teams in the WBBL because of her exploits in the shorter formats of the game, is yet to receive a contract.