India Women's T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has echoed the need for a women's Indian Premier League, supporting her teammates Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodriguez, who have already reasoned for the biggest cricket league's women's edition.
Harmanpreet gave an example of how Australian Women's players are already benefitting from something like the Women's Big Bash League.
"If you look at the way Tahlia McGrath batted today, we can see the confidence they are getting from a tournament like WBBL. They are ready to play international cricket. She has not played much in international cricket but got to play many matches before playing for Australia," Kaur said in the post-match presser.
As many as eight Indian players are part of WBBL this season with Poonam Yadav being the latest joined, signing up for Brisbane Heat on October 07. Harmanpreet said that these leagues help a player get exposure to the pressure situation and perform under it.
“If we had women's IPL, the domestic players would get a lot of chances to prove themselves under pressure. I think that is the only reason we are lagging right now. Before getting to play in international, if we get a chance to play in a domestic tournament like IPL, we will definitely improve.
In Australia, they get 20-30 matches in WBBL before getting to international cricket. It will develop your skills and give you experience so that you don't feel lost in international cricket," she added.
India failed to defend 118 runs in 20 overs in the second T20I, even after getting Australia down to 46-4 in the first 10 overs at one stage. The third and final T20I is scheduled to be played on October 10.