‘Women’s IPL not viable at the moment’
MUMBAI: Mithali Raj & Co’s stellar show in the ICC World Cup has put the Indian women’s cricket team firmly in focus.
India’s upset win over Australia in the semifinal to storm into the Lord’s final has brought Indian women’s cricket from near anonymity to limelight. The goodwill for the team didn’t dim despite the gut-wrenching ninerun loss to hosts England in Sunday’s final.
The demand for a women’s IPL also followed with skipper Mithali saying the timing was ideal to emulate the Big Bash League Twenty20 league.
While developing women’s cricket aggressively is now certainly a core focus of the BCCI, a top Board official said launching an IPL for women cricketers is not a viable option at the moment.
“There is no doubt about the (surge in) interest in women’s cricket thanks to the World Cup. It is unprecedented. We will certainly have a roadmap now for women’s cricketers like we have for men’s cricket. But to have an IPL is not feasible,” a BCCI official told Hindustan Times on Tuesday.
The main problem in organising a women’s IPL is the dearth of quality domestic cricketers. “We don’t have a large pool of women players at the moment who are ready for top level competition. The competition should be fierce as that will make the tournament interesting. At the moment, ideally the focus should be on increasing the opportunities for the Indian women’s cricket team and improving bench strength,” said the official.
Chennai’s MRF pace foundation also plans to hone the skills of women pacers following the World Cup. “We’re planning to include women cricketers too at the pace foundation. It may not start immediately, but we will have them from next year onwards,” said Myluahanan Senthilnathan, chief coach at MRF Pace Foundation.