The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has for years been seeing thousands of crores coming in through the auction for the Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights. Over the next five years, the IPL is going to fetch close to Rs 48,390 crore just through TV and digital media rights sale.
While this means good tidings for the male players, as 10 teams has meant more opportunities for them, spare a thought for the female players who are also part of the same system. They have had a Women’s T20 Challenge -a token three-team, four-match tournament - every year on the sidelines of the IPL to show that they belong at the highest level.
While a lot of the money earned through the sale of two new teams and the IPL media rights will also go to the female players, there is nothing quite like a Women’s franchise T20 tournament. For want of a better name, let us call it the Women’s IPL (WIPL) for now.
In late 2019 when Sourav Ganguly took charge as the BCCI president, he had set himself a four-year target to launch that tournament.
“You need to understand the practicality of it. You need a lot more women players. I see that in four years’ time, to get a seven-team IPL with the best women players [in participation],” he was quoted as saying in 2019.
“You have to let the state association teams get stronger, a lot of them are getting stronger. The push for women’s cricket has been enormous over the last few years. Three years down the line, when you have 150-160 players, you can take the IPL forward. Right now, we have 50-60 players. With the push BCCI has for women’s cricket, that will only increase,” Ganguly added.
This led to a lot of outcry from the cricketing ecosystem.
Presently there are 1,100 registered female players in India and by the looks of it, Ganguly has achieved his target. He announced earlier this year that the Women’s franchise tournament will be launched in early 2023.
"We are at the level of formulation to have a full-fledged WIPL. It is certainly going to happen," Ganguly told PTI in February 2022. "I strongly believe that next year (2023) will be a very good time to start a full-fledged women's IPL which will be as big and grand a success as men's IPL."
Things started moving swiftly and right before the IPL this year after a Governing Council meeting, Ganguly fronted the media again. He announced that the Women’s Franchise T20 tournament is getting closer than ever before.
"It has to be approved by the AGM. We plan to start it by next year hopefully," said Ganguly.
The moment Ganguly said it, there was interest pouring in from various stakeholders. Serial entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala announced that he would throw his hat in the ring if and when it comes up.
About the right time to say this but we MUST have a women’s @IPL - and soon …..and I throw my hat in the ring to taken on one of the opening teams @BCCI @BCCIWomen— Ronnie Screwvala (@RonnieScrewvala) April 1, 2022
The plan as of now is for a six-team franchise tournament for February-March 2023, with existing owners of IPL teams getting first go at purchasing sides. This would mean excellent news for female cricketers in India and around the world. Everyone knows that if India invests in women’s cricket, it will take the sport forward much like the men’s game.
India’s recently retired superstar Mithali Raj had been a strong votary of the franchise concept for a long while. Raj was clear that initially maybe the tournament could start off slowly.
"We can definitely start (WIPL) with maybe 5-6 teams because, unless and until you give them an opportunity, like Shafali is a find of Women's Challenge and Kiran (Navgire) is a find of the recent one. So, I'm sure you will find many talented players. Unless you give them that platform, we will never know if they have it in them. So, I think we can definitely feed in around 5-6 teams.
"The biggest example will be to look at men's IPL, what it has done over the years to where men's cricket is today. The amount of talent you get to see in every game. At one point it shocked me to see so many talented players and I am not even talking about the capped players. So, I'm sure that will happen for women. Am hoping a similar thing will happen to women's cricket once women's IPL starts next year,” Raj told India Today.
Around the world, there is already a sense of expectation around the impending launch of the Indian tournament. Players are getting ready for the launch already.
"The announcement of the IPL, in particular, to be able to grow the game in India is unbelievable. It’s such an untapped market I feel in the women’s game, with that many people. Surely, they’re going to be unbeatable in sort of a 10-year time. They just really needed a sort of a leg up in that domestic setup to showcase what these amazing women can do," Alyssa Healy, Australia’s keeper-batter said before the recent World Cup.
New Zealand’s Sophie Devine feels that the women’s franchise tournament will help the sport grow immensely. “We’ve all said that as soon as there’s a women’s IPL, cricket around the world absolutely is going to take off and I’m really excited to hear that. It’s been a long time coming and fingers crossed I can be involved in such a tournament. I just think it’s fantastic,” opined Devine.
Also voicing support for the tournament was Australia’s current leg-spinning star Alana King."A lot of the girls are crying out for something like the IPL to start up," King told ESPNcricinfo. "It's scary to see the talent they've got in their domestic system. It will do Indian cricket a world of good as well as world cricket and I think everyone is just excited. The talk was hopefully there's a proper IPL next year and I'll definitely be putting my hand up for it…hopefully there's enough traction. There's definitely enough talent within India to start it up."
The girls have already started picking sides that they would like to be a part of in a prospective franchise competition if it is on the likes of the men’s tournament. England’s Danielle Wyatt, a long-time Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) supporter, is keen to turn out for the same side as her favourite player, Virat Kohli.
Indian girls Yastika Bhatia and Shafali Varma were keen to turn out for the Mumbai Indians if the opportunity does come along.
Former India player and coach Sudha Shah is a firm believer that the time is ripe for the tournament. “At the recent Women's T20 (Challenge) matches, the scores were higher than the previous years, and it's evident that the girls are ready and raring to go,” said Shah in a chat with Mathrubhumi.
But the best indicator of what the future holds for the tournament was on display in Pune during the recent Women’s T20 Challenge matches. Around 8,621 people turned up for the final featuring Supernovas and Velocity at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
If the same momentum is maintained, the BCCI will need more time to count the moolah from a different source of revenue. Till then, let them go back to counting the riches from the sale of the IPL media rights.
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