Five teams are expected to compete in the women’s IPL. Eight out of the ten current men’s IPL teams are expected to make a bid for a women’s franchise during the auction, which is set for January 25.
Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain of India, has expressed her excitement about the possibility of the first Women’s Indian Premier League (WIPL), saying that many retired cricket players have missed the opportunity presented by the impending women’s Indian Premier League. The WIPL’s debut season will begin in March.
Viacom 18 purchased the media rights to the first five seasons of the league earlier this week for a staggering sum of Rs 951 crore.
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Many old cricketers have missed
Harmanpreet stated that the opportunity some of these young girls would receive is something that the older players missed out on in his remarks prior to India’s match against South Africa.
Speaking ahead of the T20 tri-series opener against South Africa, Harmanpreet said: “Many girls all over the world will play. Because the opportunity that the next generation will get is something many old cricketers have missed.”
Everyone is happy about this
The Indian skipper believes it’s a significant step in the right way for the development of women’s cricket.
“Everyone is happy about this and we are waiting for it to start. Personally, for me, it will be a big achievement to participate in that. There can be no bigger achievement for women’s cricket than this. This is a big step and all women cricketers were waiting for this opportunity for a long time. And finally, the time has come. The amount of responses we are getting from everyone is outstanding. That was the reason we wanted to express our feelings on social media,” she added.
No difference between men’s and women’s cricket
The key Indian players have experience competing in franchise events. Women cricketers are allowed to play in international leagues, unlike men’s competition.
Eight Indian players competed in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) in 2021, an Australian franchise competition. It was the most representation a country had in the WBBL that year.
In addition to Harmanpreet, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Deepti Sharma were included in the first Women’s Hundred editions in 2021.
When the Women’s IPL debuts, women’s cricket will be on par with those of men, according to Harmanpreet, a Melbourne Renegades player who earned WBBL 2021’s Player of the Tournament award.
“I think it is a great initiative taken by the BCCI and everyone is really working hard to promote women’s cricket. ICC is also doing so well. We all want to take women’s cricket one step ahead.
Hereafter I don’t think women’s cricket will lag behind considerably. In the times to come, I don’t think there will be any difference between men’s and women’s cricket,” she remarked.
Harmanpreet Kaur on WIPL media rights
On January 16, Viacom18 successfully bid on and won the media rights for the Women’s IPL for a staggering INR 951 crore for the editions 2023–2027. This indicates that each WIPL match costs INR 7.09 crore.
The Indian skipper stated when discussing the unexpected response from the broadcasting rights::
“This is a big step and all women cricketers were waiting for this opportunity for a long time. And finally, the time has come. The amount of responses we are getting from everyone is outstanding. That was the reason we wanted to express our feelings on social media.”
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