Would women’s IPL be a welcome move?

Would women’s IPL be a welcome move?

The Indian women cricket team’s brilliant performance in the world cup campaign has us beaming in extreme pride. Few years back it would be vague to call for an Indian Premier League for women but now that their potentials are out in the open, there should be no reason to deny that Mithali Raj is absolutely right in saying that this could be a near possibility.

The women’s cricket team needs more exposure for sure but is IPL the right path for this? Most importantly, will people of the country welcome the move and show as much support to women in blue as they have been doing for men in blue?

Yes

1. Proven their stature

The support of people towards the women cricket team has improved considerably over the world cup campaign. Their excellent performances have the public dumbstruck and swell with pride. Harmanpreet Kaur’s powered innings has become the face of women’s strength in the game. Jarrod Kimner of ESPN wrote about her, “You could bowl her a grenade, and she’d blow you up with it.”

2. Encourage

It is high time we show support to the girls who made the game spectacular to watch and appreciate the power they can depict in a game that has majorly been dominated by men. It is no more a men’s game. IPL would be just the right move to encourage and expose domestic players as well. More and more girls would come forth to be a part of the blue team in times to come but only when we encourage the present lot that earned the cherishing.

3. More opportunities

More games, more opportunities would open up with IPL for women. It would not only improve the cricket of the team by practicing more but also lead to more and more involvement of media as well as public which will be a huge boost of morality for girls. They are in absolute need of this as they have always faced issues of less popularity compared to men’s games.

4. Australia has

The Big Bash League in Australia is exclusively for women. It has not only given them exposure at large but also created a lot of viewership and publicity for them, improvising their cricket to a great extent. If they can do it, our girls in blue can do it too. With the structuring of BCCI, it is possible that the women IPL team could garner the same kind of viewership and popularity.

5. Prospect

Former Indian cricketer Shantha Rangaswamy rightly stated that girls that show a lot of potential for playing good cricket are usually discouraged because of the lack of viewership in India and change career. This could be tackled by starting IPL for women.

No

1. Not much to offer at present

It is only recently that the women’s cricket team got some recognition for their splendid game. There is also a lack of viewership in India. Unless they go on to win some big tournaments in future, there will be serious lack of support for their IPL.

2. Too early to predict

They played spectacularly well this time but it is still too early to expect that sponsors will be ready to pitch in for this format meant for women exclusively. The doubts will have to be removed and that can happen only over some more time.

Yes, there will be doubts and predicaments in the beginning but in order to gain momentum, a start has to be made and the sooner it is introduced the better it will be for young girls to pursue their passion for cricket. If there has to be more Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami and Harmanpreet Kaur for cricket in tomorrow’s India, the preparations have to be begin now.