Comments of Sunil Gavaskar have come after India were thrashed in the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup by Australia, who have a women’s T20 league.
Sunil Gavaskar file image. (Photo: IANS)
Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar believes that if India are to emerge as a dominating force in Women’s cricket the BCCI will have to start a women’s IPL very soon. His comments have come after India were thrashed by Australia in the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup at the iconic MCG on Sunday.
“To Sourav Ganguly and the BCCI, I would say is, look at, obviously this year is not going to be possible, but next year, having a women’s IPL because that will earn a lot more talent,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying in a chat show on India Today.
India’s defeat in the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup was their third defeat in a semi-final or a final of ICC tournaments. On the T20I front, the Australian women’s team are the most successful with five World Cup titles.
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Their success stories have gone parallel with the Cricket Australia investing heavily in the Women’s Big Bash League, the fifth edition of which was hosted between October and December 2019.
Hinting that a women’s IPL will produce more talent, Gavaskar said, “That is where you actually saw that there is potential for a women’s IPL. And like I said, it doesn’t necessarily have to start with an eight-team IPL, it can start maybe with a five-team or four-team IPL or WIPL or whatever you might want to call it. But I think if you start with that, there’ll be more talent that will come to the fore, just like it has for the men’s team.”
“And therefore, if we tap that talent, we will have much better teams. We will have competition within the team itself to try and get into the Indian team. And that’s only healthy for Indian women’s cricket,” added Gavaskar.
Currently, during the playoffs of the IPL, the BCCI has been organising the Women’s T20 Challenge since 2018. What started as a two-team affair will see four teams participating in 2020 to play seven matches in total. The WT20 Challenge this year promises to feature some of the world’s best women cricketers.
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