A few competitions for women cricketers are in the offing. To sustain interest in the game and attract more youngsters and sponsors following the success of the Indian team at the ICC Women’s World Cup, the Board is contemplating various steps to give a boost to women’s cricket.
According to a top Board official, “A tournament on the lines of the Indian Premier League (IPL) may not be immediately practicable. The Board welcomes the idea but there are many hurdles and the biggest involves having a pool of players who would meet international standards.”
The demand for a women’s IPL has grown for some time and gained momentum after the recent showing in England. As the Board official pointed out, there is not a large pool of players available to raise a minimum of 40 players.
“You would need at least 60 players of which 15 to 20 could be drafted from overseas. Honestly, how many players do we have like Mithali, Harmanpreet (Kaur), Smriti (Mandhana), Veda (Krishnamurthy), Deepti (Sharma) and Jhulan (Goswami). The truth is we would need players who can be termed crowd pullers,” the official added.
There are not many powerful hitters of the ball. There are not many quality all-rounders. The T20 format, the official observed, was a lot about agility, flexibility, speed and power. The girls are skilful but they would have to become physically stronger.
Would it help if the boundaries are shorter? “To bring in the boundaries (from existing 60 yards) would not be desirable. We played when the boundary was 75 yards,” said former India star Shantha Rangaswamy.
The Board would not like to hurry into a venture which does not guarantee success. “It would be a huge embarrassment if the tournament does not take off. Let’s not hurry into such a venture and repent if it fails,” the official made his point.
As of now, the Board is planning to form a committee that would include the current captain, coach, some former players, to suggest ways of adding a couple of events to the women cricket’s annual calendar.
“Our priority is to get more and more girls to play cricket. Do a talent scout by having open trials. Have more contracted players to ensure financial security,” the official said.
The Committee of Administrators has assured all help and financial support to women’s cricket.
