Call For Women's IPL, Is BCCI Listening?

Team India put up an excellent show against South Africa on Saturday (Feb 24) and claimed the ODI series victory with 2-1.

According to Indian women's cricket captain Mithali Raj, this is the time to "create the base" of an Indian Premier League dedicated to women players. She has demanded a tournament along the lines of the IPL for male cricketers.

It is believed that having the lucrative IPL could give birth to numerous talented women's cricketers in the country

"If we find that we can host a few exhibition matches, then BCCI would like to do it this year. The women cricketers deserve to play IPL," Vinod Rai, chairman of the Committee of Administrators (CoA), told the Times of India.

The talk about IPL came when Rahul Sharma, a cricket fan, took to Twitter to share his sentiments over women cricketers not getting enough exposure. He said the women could achieve wonders if given more opportunities.

Rahul wrote:

Don't know is it really hard for BCCI to invest in women's IPL or they think it won't attract many viewers to watch the sport. Well something must be holding 'em back. Addition of women's IPL would have been a massive morale booster to so many young girls wanting to play cricket.

— Rahul Sharma ? (@CricFreakRD) February 15, 2018

His voiced was heard by many other fans who shared the same feelings. They are keen to see Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, and the veteran Mithali Raj play in a women's IPL where they could explore their talent on a higher level.

Following the conversation, star cricketers from other countries, including Sarah Taylor (England Women) and Dane van Niekerk (South Africa Women), may also feature in the T20 cricket league.

But ultimately, the final decision awaits the BCCI’s nod.

Before IPL 2018 begins, the BCCI is organising a few women's T20 exhibition matches during the playoffs

Some star cricketers from Australia Women and England Women are also in talks of participating in the exhibition T20 matches.

"The IPL Governing Council may discuss it for sure. If it's feasible, we will do it. I am all for women's IPL," Diana Edulji, former India women's cricket team player and current CoA member, was quoted as saying by TOI.

"But it's too late this year to come up with a full-fledged event because of time constraint. We need a different window and, therefore, we can't rush into it. It needs a lot of planning," she added.

The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League starts on April 4.

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