The talented Indian women’s cricket team has become one of the favourites in recent years not just in their own country but in the minds of the whole of women cricket. The major boost to this praise was seen in their recently concluded series against Australia after they displayed an exceptionally good performance in the multi-format series.
While the demand for the women’s edition of the Indian Premier League has been in talks for a long time now with the players like Jemimah, Harmanpreet and others themselves coming up with the idea of a full-fledged IPL, its support further increased after the Australia tour. Fans took to social media to express their opinion on the same, coincidently the men’s edition of the league was underway then and so the support was a great one and in fact, continues to grow. There have been reports that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking into introducing the league next year.
However, the legend Mithali Raj who has been a famous name in women’s cricket and one of the recipients of the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award for this year has shared her opinion that currently, the focus should be on the World Cup scheduled for next year instead of women’s IPL.
India is one of the favorites going into the 2022 ICC World Cup to be held in New Zealand in March/April after a year’s delay due to Covid-19 and Mithali Raj who has been the face of women cricket for nearly two decades now, would be looking forward to the last try at the World Cup trophy next year and to finish her appreciable cricketing career on a winning note. Raj has already retired from the shortest format of the game and has hinted at the cup being her last edition.
In a recent interaction with Cricket.com, Raj said, “Right now, I feel instead of talking about the IPL, it’s important that we focus on the World Cup as it’s a major event. At the moment it’s important for me to get the team prepared for the World Cup. If the team does well in the World Cup, then it will be a huge boost for the sport in the country and for the domestic players as well.”
She further said that the BCCI will come up with IPL as and when they feel it is right. There has been a rapid rise in the number of women domestic players and so lack of players isn’t a concern now and obviously, a good performance in the World Cup would ultimately boost women’s cricket in the country to a great extent.
Looking at the talent our women in blue have, we are hopeful for a world cup title coming next year.
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