WPL boost: Women's IPL will catapult Indian cricket to newer heights

Indian women's cricket team. (Photo: Twitter)

On December 11, an estimated 47,000 people crammed into the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai for a T20 International. The number is remarkable only because it was the second T20I between the women’s teams of Australia and India and had bettered the number from the first T20I — an approximate 25,000 at the same venue.

The crowd got their money’s worth. The match was tied after India chased down Australia’s 187-run target before a one-over eliminator decided the match in India’s favour. The visitors won the series 4-1 though.

“The fact that we play in front of only, maybe, 5,000 people in WBBL (Women’s Big Bash League); to come out and play in front of a crowd with 47,000 was unbelievable,” ESPN Cricinfo reported Australian player Heather Graham as saying. “This showcases the crowds women’s cricket can get and how exciting it can be.”

The rocking numbers were a precursor to what has transpired this week — a proof of the popularity of women’s cricket. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) got Rs 4,669.99 crore ($572 million) from the auction for five women’s teams that will play the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) this March. The Ahmedabad team was sold for the highest price, Rs 1,289 crore, while Mumbai went for Rs 912.99 crore, with Bengaluru (Rs 901 crore), Delhi (Rs 810 crore) and Lucknow (Rs 757 crore) forming the rest.

The BCCI has sold the media rights to Viacom 18 for Rs 951 crore for five years starting 2023. BCCI secretary Jay Shah claimed that the WPL would be the second-highest valued league in cricket after the IPL (Indian Premier League).

“At the core of Diageo is the value of gender inclusivity that embraces diversity in the broadest possible sense,” said Prathmesh Mishra, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) chairman in a statement. “We held back all our investments in overseas teams to own a WPL team.” Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd won the Bengaluru bid, to go with the team they already own in the IPL.

The staggering numbers point to what was probably not apparent before — the popularity of the discipline. “I am very surprised to see the standard of the game improve in the last five years because we didn’t expect that from Indian women,” ESPN Cricinfo reported BCCI president Roger Binny as saying. “The game has taken off so much and now with the WPL coming in, that could take the players even further. Like what happened in the men’s section, the game really took off and the game improved so much. The same thing is going to happen in women’s cricket.”

The growth of women’s cricket, like in any sport, has been spurred by its players and results. India lost the 2017 ODI World Cup final to England by nine runs, but their journey to the final triggered a strong interest in the team that has sustained.

The players are instantly recognisable now, with appearances on magazine covers and television advertisements. Smriti Mandhana, who was recently on the cover of Vogue magazine, is third in ICC (International Cricket Council) T20I batting rankings, with Shafali Verma at number eight. Deepti Sharma is the third-ranked bowler with Renuka Singh and Sneh Rana also in the Top 10. Sharma is also ranked No. 2 among all-rounders.

The talismanic Mandhana, who was the top-ranked ODI batter in 2019, has taken over from Mithali Raj as India’s best-known current woman cricketer. Harmanpreet Kaur, also a frontrunner in endorsements and advertising campaigns, was the first Indian to sign a Big Bash League contract with Sydney Thunder in Australia.

The interest for this discipline in the country, reflected in the WPL numbers, augurs well for the sport’s growth globally. “Personally, I love playing cricket in India,” said English cricketer Danielle Wyatt in a video message after the latest developments. “Playing cricket in front of so many passionate, loud Indian fans is a great feeling. India is my favourite place to play cricket for that reason. WIPL is going to change the landscape of cricket in India and across the world.”

“This is a great start for women’s sport not just in India but the world over because this league is not just going to be the biggest in India but the biggest women’s sport in the world,” said Satyam Trivedi, the head of Adani Sportsline Pvt. Ltd that owns the Ahmedabad franchise, on television after the auctions.

The WPL does tilt the balance of power towards India in women’s cricket, something that the IPL did for men, making the BCCI a dominant player in the field. But what the WPL also does is give women’s cricket a wider platform to draw in audiences and sponsors and allows for sportswomen to earn better. For long side-lined in favour of the men, it brings some sort of parity that other sports, like tennis and badminton, have managed to achieve.

This boost to women in sport comes at a time when one of India’s most influential sportswomen, Sania Mirza, played her last match at a major. Mirza lost in the final of the mixed doubles with partner Rohan Bopanna at the Australian Open on Friday, but retires at a time when other sportswomen are getting an opportunity to shine.