India Women team clinched a rousing victory against Australia Women in the 3rd ODI after a last-ball thriller of the 2nd ODI. India’s victory saw an end to the home team’s 26 ODI winning streak which was started against India and now is ended by India.
Though India’s loss in the 2nd match was due to the no-ball in the last over and a few miss fielding, many fans pointed out the pressure that bounded the team in the last over. Defending 13 runs against a very successful team, had they experienced such a situation earlier, the result would have been the other way round.
This brings in the need for the Women’s edition of one of the most celebrated cricketing festivals, The Indian Premier League (IPL). In the Men’s edition of the league, which is currently in progress, we have seen almost every game going into the last over and nothing can be decided until the final ball. IPL is known for the thriller it brings and this helps the players to get used to such situations and deal with them without much pressure. In fact, it isn’t just the IPL, several leagues match which have been held for women like the recently concluded The Hundred, Women’s Big Bash League, and others have proved to be the key to handle these close games.
Before the start of the series, several players pointed out the need for a full-fledged Women’s IPL by The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) including Australia’s Ellyse Perry, India’s Jemimah Rodrigues, all having a similar motive to give exposure to players especially the youngsters. India does have a Women’s T20 Challenge, but it only consists of three teams at the moment. It has been heard that the BCCI is worried about whether there would be enough players who would turn up to play the league. To this, the players, as well as the fans, have suggested that nothing can be said until it is executed, once we start with it, we will enhance it further.
The splendid performance by India has raised hope for a Women’s edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The current squad has the capability to reach great heights and it has already taken Women’s cricket in India to the top or at least equal to what Men’s cricket is considered in the country.
Let’s hope the BCCI looks at them as a promising team and we see a Women’s IPL very soon.
Loves all things female cricket