Stars like Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana believe the women’s IPL can help newcomers make a seamless transition from domestic to international cricket.
The inaugural women’s IPL will be held in March and some of the country’s top players, from national team captain Harmanpreet to senior opener Mandhana, are looking forward to the event which will also see foreign stars taking part.
Speaking on Star Sports show ‘Follow the Blues’, Harmanpreet said: “The IPL will be a great platform for players who are really good, but you know, for them international cricket is still something they don’t get from one to the next. may change another day.
“But in the IPL, if they get a chance to play against foreign players, they get a platform, they can play well, they can understand what international cricket is.
“So if they play for the Indian team, they will not be under any additional pressure, because at the moment, the players who are selected from the domestic teams, sometimes I see them blank, they cannot understand how to change their game plan .
“To close that gap, the tournament will play a major role. So over the next few years, with the girls playing in the IPL, we’re sure to see some big changes in their performance. The Women in Blue have made a lot of progress over the past year, but have not managed to win any championships. The team reached the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup, beating Sri Lanka in a T20I and ODI bilateral series, winning a Commonwealth Games silver medal and achieving a historic 3-0 victory in England.
They then won the Asian Cup for the seventh time.
Speaking further about the IPL, Harmanpreet said: “The IPL is a huge step forward for women’s cricket because before that we have seen the Board of Australia and the Board of England, they have provided the WBBL and The Hundred.
“We discussed that there is a big gap between domestic and international cricket, because even if you play well in domestic cricket and then suddenly play international matches, you cannot understand what to do and how to do it.” Mandhana compared the women’s IPL to leagues like The Hundred and the WBBL and shared how they’ve helped their domestic players.
All women’s cricket, I won’t say the Indian team or the domestic format. We continue to talk about how it will increase bank strength.
“But the fact is it’s going to help the domestic girls a lot because that kind of experience of playing in leagues like this will put a lot of things in order for women’s cricket,” said Mandhana.
“From the bottom up and we’ve seen how the Big Bash and The Hundred have helped Australia and England respectively with their domestic setup and other things.
“So I’m actually really happy. The Indian team will benefit a lot from the women’s IPL, but it will also benefit a lot of domestic girls, which I’m looking forward to.” Batsman Jemimah Rodrigues said the women’s IPL would take the game to the next level in India.
“The women’s IPL is going to change a lot of things for women’s cricket in India. I think it’s the best platform for us now that we’ve done so well as an Indian team in all the major events like World Cup, Commonwealth.
“Now is just the right time to make it happen and I am sure we will get a lot more talent here. I am very sure that women’s cricket in India is all set to move to the next level after the IPL for women,” said Rodrigues.