Indian cricket fans for a few years have been demanding Women’s IPL. According to the former captain of the National Women’s team Anjum Chopra, Women’s IPL needs a structured plan. Anjum Chopra in her interview with Hindustan Times recently said that the concept is in a ‘very interesting stage’. The BCCI should take the first step forward.
Since 2018 BCCI has been arranging the Women’s T20 Challenge as an exhibition match before the IPL. Last year the BCCI announced that 4 teams will play WT20C but due to the pandemic it was called off. Moreover, the tournament has got an official T20 tournament status also.
The call to bring IPL for women’s got a stimulus after Harmanpreet Kaur won the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) player of the tournament award.
BCCI facing some problems
According to Chopra, the BCCI has shown interest in organizing a Women’s IPL. But there are some problems which the board will have to overcome first.
“Women’s IPL… it’s a very interesting stage. I understand the chorus is happening and people are saying that it should happen especially after Harmanpreet won the Player of the Tournament (Women’s Big Bash League) award. All these are fine,”
said Chopra.
According to the 42-year-old, if the BCCI can start Women’s IPL today but they’re restricted at some point. It is not that the BCCI does not want a women’s tournament or does not want to start it. But what seems is that they have problems or questions about how to control it. And how to make it work fluently. However, we can see a Women’s IPL maybe 4 or 5 times with the international players also there.
The former Indian skipper also said that to host a Women’s IPL along with the IPL will be very tough and would require a large amount of manpower for its proper functioning. However, we should not forget that a four-team Women’s T20 Challenge was proposed last time but due to the pandemic it had to be canceled.
Chopra also stated that the board should have a proper structure plan for the tournament and can build on the success of the small tournament. The BCCI should at first have a properly structured plan and could start that tournament with a fewer number of teams. After that, with the success of the small tournament, more teams could be added to it.
The BCCI will get a lot of help from the existing Women’s tournaments like the WBBL and the Kia Super League. Everything depends on the intended and execution of the BCCI. Their management of the project will for sure determine the success of the tournament.
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