Women’s IPL soon to be a reality?

A few years ago, any consideration of the creation of a Women’s Indian Premier League would have been unheard of. However, given the recent performance of the Indian Women’s Cricket Team at the World Cup, this is coming closer to reality.

Famous player Mithali Raj spoke out on this recently, saying that she is now in full support of the idea of a Women’s IPL. Unlike a few years back, she says, people are now more aware and supportive of women’s cricket.

The standard of women’s cricket has also improved, due to the team’s excellent World Cup performance. Therefore, the creation of a domestic competition could be not too far away.

Raj mostly emphasizes the improvement of the standard of women’s cricket as the key element to the creation of a Women’s IPL.

If there is going to be a domestic competition, she says, there must be enough people who can play the game well. Luckily, there is more hope for that now, due to there being more people aware of the sport.

Since their recent phenomenal match at the World Cup was broadcast and televised for all to see, more people are noticing the value and potential of women’s cricket.

The popularity of the World Cup game doesn’t simply raise awareness of women’s cricket, but it also sets India up as a country with a high standard of the sport. The team has performed well against England’s and Australia’s teams, both famed for their skill and enthusiasm.

Although Raj expresses that there is still a large gap between domestic-level women’s cricket and international-level women’s cricket in India, both awareness of the sport and creation of a Women’s IPL can immensely narrow that gap.

With more opportunities for women’s cricket players to improve their skills, the standard of Indian women’s cricket will certainly be on the rise.

Image Credit: Ramesh NG from Bangalore, INDIA / CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Source: IPL 2014 RR vs RCB 11th May 2014

Image Reference: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IPL_-_RR_vs_RCB_11th_May_2014.jpg