Opinion Note to cricket board: Women’s Premier League is ready

There was plenty of evidence for women’s cricket’s potential — both commercially and on the field — in India’s historic World Cup triumph last year. But the fourth edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) provided more proof to the Indian board that the sport is ready for a bigger, more concerted push.

An exemplary knock from Smriti Mandhana in the final powered Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a second title. The campaign proved to be a good sign for India’s impending transition when Harmanpreet Kaur — who also had a prolific season personally — calls it a day. The real success of the tournament, however, is beyond the stalwarts. In Jemimah Rodrigues’s first tryst with captaincy at the highest level, she showed immense maturity in leading Delhi Capitals to yet another final. Delhi also unearthed a new gem in the form of medium pacer Nandani Sharma, who was the joint-leading wicket-taker of the tournament and also picked up a hat-trick. Gujarat Giants’s Anushka Sharma was another young talent who caught attention with her impressive strokeplay and sensational athleticism on the field.

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Looking forward, the BCCI should realise that the WPL is ready to evolve beyond just a five-team tournament. The World Cup victory, followed by inarguably the best edition of the League, should encourage the board to give it the pride of place it deserves on the sporting calendar. The increasing quality of cricket across the five teams, the rate of scoring and the investment of franchises in talent scouting are all reasons the BCCI can and must put more of its resources into making the League a better product than it already is.