Women’s IPL: Indian stars compare league to WBBL & The Hundred, feel tournament will take game to next level

The
inaugural
women’s
IPL
is
set
to
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
that
will
also
see
participation
from
overseas
stars.

Captain
Harmanpreet
feels
the
women’s
IPL
could
help
newcomers
in
making
a
seamless
transition
from
domestic
to
international
cricket
and
perform
well
under
pressure.

Speaking
on
Star
Sports
show
‘Follow
the
Blues’,
Harmanpreet
said,
“The
IPL
will
be
a
great
platform
for
players
that
are
really
good,
but
you
know
for
them,
international
cricket
is
still
something
that
they
cannot
change
their
approach
and
mind-set
overnight.

“But
in
the
IPL,
when
they
get
a
chance
to
play
against
overseas
players,
it
will
give
them
a
platform,
they
can
play
well,
they
can
understand
what
is
international
cricket.

“So,
when
they
are
playing
for
the
Indian
team,
they
will
not
face
any
extra
pressure,
because
right
now,
the
players
that
are
selected
from
the
domestic
teams,
sometimes
I
can
see
that
they
are
blank,
they
are
not
able
to
understand
how
to
change
their
game
plan.

“To
cut
that
gap,
the
tournament
will
play
a
major
role.
So,
the
coming
years,
with
the
girls
who
play
in
the
IPL,
we
will
definitely
see
some
major
changes
in
their
performances.”

BCCI
sets
base
price
of
franchise
in
Women’s
IPL
at
Rs
400
crore:
Reports

The
Women
in
Blue
have
made
a
lot
of
progress
in
the
past
year,
but
have
not
been
able
to
win
the
championships.

The
team
made
it
to
the
semi-finals
of
the
ODI
World
Cup,
beat
Sri
Lanka
in
a
T20I
and
ODI
bilateral
series,
won
a
Commonwealth
Games
silver
medal
and
bagged
a
historic
3-0
win
in
England.
Then,
they
won
the
Asia
Cup
for
a
record
seventh
time.

Talking
further
about
the
IPL,
Harmanpreet
said,
“The
IPL
is
a
huge
step
forward
for
women’s
cricket,
because
before
this,
we
have
witnessed
the
Australia
board,
England
board,
they
have
looked
after
the
WBBL
and
The
Hundred.

“We
have
discussed
that
there’s
a
big
gap
between
domestic
and
international
cricket,
because
even
if
you
play
well
in
domestic
cricket
and
then
suddenly
play
international
games,
you’re
not
able
to
understand
what
to
do
and
how
to
do
it.”

Opener
Mandhana
also
echoed
the
skipper
and
compared
the
women’s
IPL
with
leagues
such
as
The
Hundred
and
the
WBBL
and
spoke
about
how
they
have
helped
their
domestic
players.

“All
of
women’s
cricket,
I
won’t
say
the
Indian
team
or
the
domestic
set-up.
We
keep
talking
about
how
it
will
increase
the
bench
strength.

“But
actually,
the
fact
is
that
it’s
going
to
help
the
domestic
girls
massively
because
that
sort
of
experience
in
playing
in
leagues
like
this
will
get
a
lot
of
things
sorted
for
women’s
cricket,”
Mandhana
said.

“Grassroot
wise
and
we
have
seen
how
the
Big
Bash
and
The
Hundred
have
helped
Australia
and
England
respectively
in
their
domestic
set-up
as
well
as
other
things.

“So,
I’m
actually
really
happy,
the
Indian
team
will
benefit
a
lot
from
the
women’s
IPL,
but
it’s
also
going
to
benefit
a
lot
of
domestic
girls
which
I’m
looking
forward
to.”

Batter
Jemimah
Rodrigues
said
the
women’s
IPL
would
take
the
game
to
the
next
level
in
India
and
will
help
the
team
do
well
in
major
competitions
like
the
World
Cups.

“The
women’s
IPL
is
going
to
change
a
lot
of
things
for
women’s
cricket
in
India.
I
think
this
is
like
the
best
platform
for
us
now
that
we
as
an
Indian
team
have
been
doing
so
well
in
all
the
major
events
like
the
World
Cup,
the
Commonwealth.

“This
is
just
the
right
time
for
it
to
happen
and
I’m
sure
that
we
are
going
to
get
so
much
more
talent
that’s
going
to
come
out
from
here.
I
am
very
sure
that
women’s
cricket
in
India
is
all
set
to
go
to
the
next
level
after
the
women’s
IPL,”
Rodrigues
said.

BCCI
is
set
to
organize
a
full
fledged
Women’s
T20
tournament
after
four
editions
of
Women’s
T20
Challenge,
which
featured
three
teams
–
Velocity,
Super
Novas
and
Trailblazers.

(With
PTI
inputs)