With Indian cricket fans calling for a Women’s IPL, former India captain Anjum Chopra feels the BCCI needs a “structured plan” for starting such a competition. During a conversation with Hindustan Times, the 44-year-old stated that the concept is in a “very interesting stage” currently and feels that the Indian cricket board “needs to lead the way”. Earlier, the BCCI had announced a four-team Women’s T20 Challenge (WT20C) for last season but it was cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The WT20C began as a one-off exhibition match in 2018 before becoming a three-team, four-match event in the next two years. It has also been given an official T20 status.
Also, with Harmanpreet Kaur recently winning the Player of the Tournament in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), calls for a women’s IPL have increased in India.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Chopra explained that the BCCI has shown intent to organize a women’s IPL tournament but there are some other issues which the board needs to tackle 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 (Kaur) winning the Player of the Tournament (Women’s Big Bash League) award. All these are absolutely fine”, she said.
“The day the BCCI decides to conduct a women’s IPL it will happen, the point is, the resistance is not only because they do not want to start it or they do not want a women’s tournament.
“I think there might be some other issues or questions on how it can be done and how it can be handled. We can of course have a shorter version of the IPL, maybe with 4 or 5 proper teams with international players.”
Pointing out the administrative issues, the commentator said that to host a women’s IPL along with the men’s IPL, the BCCI would require a lot of manpower.
“Are they short of manpower? Maybe. No cricket organisation has so much manpower. So, it is not about intent with the BCCI not wanting to initiate it. Let’s not forget that they had proposed a four-team Women’s T20 Challenge event last season and would have happened in May had the pandemic not hit”, she explained.
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The former cricketer also went on to state that the board will need a “structured plan” and can build on the success of a smaller tournament.
“I’m sure we can have a structured plan for initiating a women’s IPL. It may not be eight teams to 10 teams, it can be just five or six or even four teams. But in a very structured manner. With the success of the smaller version we can always expand. But the benefit that BCCI will have now is that these women’s T20 leagues have already mushroomed around the world, whether it is the Women’s Big Bash or the Kia Super League. So it’s all about intent and execution” she said.
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