Here’s what Sunil Gavaskar has to say about a Women’s IPL tournament!

48
Sunil Gavaskar

Indian cricketing legend Sunil Gavaskar urged Sourav Ganguly and BCCI to organize a full-fledged Women’s Indian Premier League from 2021.

Gavaskar stressed that organizing women’s IPL will help unearth talent at the domestic level which will, in turn, help India win major ICC tournaments.

Yesterday, India lost the T20 ICC World Cup final to Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia.

Australia defeated India by 99 runs in a completely one-sided final. Harmanpreet Kaur led the Indian team allowed the Aussies to put up 184 runs on the scoreboard. In response, the batting line up of the Indian team collapsed.

As far as the BCCI is concerned, they are already doing a lot and which is the reason why this Indian women’s team has progressed so much. They went to Australia almost a month before the tournament started, and played a 3-match T20I series (tri-series) against the Australians.

They did well over there. They were very well acclimated to the conditions and the pitches in Australia. So you have got to give credit to the BCCI for having done that,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today in an exclusive interview.

To Sourav Ganguly and the BCCI, I would like to say, maybe next year, look at having a women’s IPL because that will unearth a lot more talent. There is already a lot of talent which we see and that will come to the fore with this performance of this Indian team throughout this tournament.

The Australian cricket board has backed the Australian women’s team for a long, long time. The Women’s Big Bash League has given plenty of opportunities to players, even our players. The likes of Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet they have played in the WBBL. That is the tournament where you get to play against the best players and learn from that,” Sunil Gavaskar told India Today after the MCG final on Sunday.

That certainly has helped them to find many more players, just like the IPL has helped them to find many more players — the Indian men’s cricket team.

It (IPL) has gone deep into the interiors of India. We have got youngsters coming up from the interiors of India and showing their skills. Therefore, that much wider talent pool is available for selection. That’s exactly what happened with the Australian WBBL.

Even if there are not 8 teams, a Women’s IPL will make a lot of sense. There will be a lot more exposure for women. A lot more talent, which is there but we don’t know at the moment will come to the fore. And then, as the years go by, Indian women’s team will start winning a lot more trophies.” (H/T – India Today)

Do you guys agree with Sunil Gavaskar?

ALSO READ: