Indian team have been waiting for long to play in IPL, reveals Harmanpreet Kaur
Ahead of her first ever IPL match Harmanpreet Kaur, who will be captaining Supernovas, has revealed that Indian Women's cricket team has been waiting for a long time to feature in a league like IPL. Kaur and Smriti Mandhana sounded confident that India have players to start a separate Women's IPL.
After successfully carrying out the world’s biggest T20 league for over a decade IPL has now decided to foray into the women’s league, where Harmanpreet Kaur-led Supernovas will face Smriti Mandhana’s Trailblazers. The game is touted as more than just an exhibition game since a good response to it would lead to women's IPL.Â
As many as seven Indian women team players would be playing on each side alongside four Australian and Harmanpreet has revealed that the India Women’s cricket team has been waiting for a long time to play such a tournament.
“We are very excited and were waiting for a long time when we could play an IPL like
BCCI has scheduled the match to be played at 2 pm, which would mean that the game will be played under the heat close to its peak. But, Kaur has observed that people who like the game of cricket will find a way to watch the match.
"Those who like cricket, nothing matters to them. If people like women's cricket, they will watch the game. And those who are involved in cricket, for
Harmanpreet’s opponent skipper Smriti Mandhana has completely backed Harmanpreet’s words, optimistically expressing how much they wanted a good display of cricket today, which can turn the heads of administrators to think about Women’s IPL.Â
"It is very exciting for all of us to be playing this exhibition match and thankful to BCCI for organizing such a unique match and it is a stepping show to the IPL. And hopefully, we will put up a good show and audience and BCCI people will think of having a (women's) IPL," Mandhana said ahead of the match in Mumbai.
When asked if India had the necessary amount of players to be able to form strong IPL women teams which can be eye-catching with their performances, both Mandhana and Kaur sounded confident. Mandhana even went on to proclaim that when the first time the IPL had started in 2008, the first two seasons only saw foreigners scoring the bulk, a trend that changed gradually and it can happen with women’s too.Â
"Well we cannot have eight teams, but we can have IPL of 4-5 teams (for women) to start with," Mandhana opined. "Definitely not eight teams, not right now. Four to five teams, to start with it is a good initiative because when men's IPL started, first two seasons only foreigners scored and later on we started developing our bench strength. You never know, that can happen with women's cricket. Through IPL it's easier to develop the bench strength. The girls will be playing with all the foreign players along with us and they will learn much quicker."
"Yes, I do think (an IPL can be held for women). We have 20 girls who are representing India - be it T20, 50 over apart from it there is India A team. We do have 30-35 girls. Everything else depends on tomorrow's match and how we get the response from the public. And if there is a good response, BCCI is very keen to form such a T20 tournament from next year."
