We will never be ready for it unless we do it: Harsha Bhogle, Ben Stokes advocate 8-team women’s IPL

There has been a long pending demand of starting an IPL style Women’s T20 league in a country that’s mad about cricket, to say the least. But the board has been relentless in not heeding to those demands year after year as well. However with the success of the WBBL and Women’s Super Smash along with the advent of The Hundred Women’s, an innovative tournament in the shortest format of the game, the voices demanding the Women’s IPL are getting stronger, louder and are increasing in number. 

The latest edition in those voices is of Indian star batsman KL Rahul, English all-rounder Ben Stokes and ace commentator Harsha Bhogle.  Speaking on the Redbull’s podcast ‘Decoding Athletes’ with Isha Guha, Stokes, while speculating about the possibility of a Women’s IPL in near future said, “Yes, I think when you see where the women’s game has gone to, especially over the last four to five years. It has gone from strength to strength and it’s great how it is filtering into the men’s game in terms of [parallel] competitions and things like that.” 

The Rajasthan Royals all-rounder stated that there was no place better than India to grow the women's game. Putting the onus on BCCI, he said that he is hopeful that one day there will be women side associated with every franchise.
“I’m very hopeful there’ll be a women’s franchise side associated with every men’s franchise side. To be able to grow the women’s game even bigger, what better place to do it than out here in India?” Stokes said.

Stokes was not alone in his hopes, Rahul, one of the most followed members of the Indian national team also agreed to the Englishman. “I totally agree with Ben. I have been following the Indian women’s team for a few years now and the kind of performances they have been putting up in the last three-four years is amazing.” 

Making it a matter of nurturing talent as well as giving a proper platform to the girls, who have made it to the big stage, fighting innumerable battles, socially as well as psychologically, Rahul believes an IPL like tournament is the need of the hour for women’s cricket in India. 

“I have seen a lot of young players coming through, a lot of them from Karnataka who always used to practise with us as junior cricketers. Great to see how they are playing. Would love to see Punjab Kings women’s team as well,” added the 28-year-old Punjab Kings’ skipper.

Smriti Mandhana, the Indian women’s team icon, has also raised a prospect of playing for Mumbai Indians, as mildly as she could, after all, it is almost felt a taboo to demand equal rights ( in terms of the pay scale at least) for Women cricketers in India as they believe whatever they are getting is more than they deserve, a perfect case of self-pity. 

Mandhana, 24, speaking on the same podcast said, “it’s the right time to start a women’s league”. She also said that she would like to be part of the Mumbai Indians, considering that it is the team representing her home state of Maharashtra. But there was also an earnest gaze, a kind of yearning to have something like an IPL for women’s cricketers when she said, “But all the teams are so good in the IPL, they look after all the players so well.”

Mandhana also put forward the case of how the IPL has helped men’s cricketer develop so much that even in their debut innings they are facing the fury of pace with so much ease (Ishan Kishan and Surya Kumar Yadav in recent England series).

The strongest of the voices, supporting the Women’s IPL is that of Commentator, Harsha Bhogle. Speaking on the Sportstar podcast on how Women’s cricket in India can grow, Bhogle said, “I think the best way to grow the game is by creating an eight-team women’s IPL as early as possible.”

“The only reason I say this is because if KKR or MI or RCB have a women’s team, they will put a lot of resources behind the teams and that’s exactly what is needed,” he further added, reasoning why franchises must be bound to have women’s teams. 

He further went on to add, “A lot of people tell me,  we are not ready for it. [But] We will never be ready for it unless we actually do it.” Speaking on the Women’s Challenge (a three-team tournament that runs parallel to IPL playoffs), Harsha said, “These three-four games are not going to take us anywhere. We (Indian Women’s team) have made it to the finals of a T20 world Cup and we have reached the finals of 50 over World Cups. This is enough to warrant an IPL like league for Women’s.”

“If we are not getting there, I think, India runs a risk of being left behind (in competition with England, Australia and New Zealand) if we do not grow our own Women’s IPL.”

Will these pleas or advice or warnings, whatever they may be termed, fall to deaf ears all over again, or will Sourav Ganguly and his men in the BCCI office pay heed it to it remains to be seen. Only time can tell us the results because as far as BCCI’s instincts are concerned, it seems least bothered about the women’s game, having just organised one domestic and one international tournament in the entire pandemic ridden time.