The five captains, image source (TV9 Bharatvarsh)
The first edition of the Women’s Premiere League is towards the end, with Delhi Capitals qualifying for the finals and another eliminator match to spare. The fan’s of women cricket have waited a lot for this day. People have waited for the WPL since very long although there were Big Bash League or the England’s Super League but with the remarkable success of the Indian Premiere League, people knew a T-20 league for women was surely the need of the hour.
Almost after 15 years to the IPL the WPL finally came into being in 2023. With five teams playing eight matches each, the league stage never disappointed the viewers. Stadiums were jam-packed with thrill and close finish tournaments; it was anyway a T-20 league where women were hitting charismatic shots out of the stadiums.
Beating the Uttar Pradesh Warriorz at the last league match the Delhi Capital’s topped the points table to reach the finals. Who can forget the all-round performance by England’s Alice Capsey in the tournament. Now Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz will play for the eliminator tournament on March 26 to give the league its another finalist.
With all teams having players from all across the world, here is how the WPL will shape the future of the women’s cricket. With star players and match winners rising in every tournament it was delightful watch. Tournament like IPL introduced new stars to the Indian cricket and brought the best of the best players to the fore, so does the WPL.
Rising Domestic stars
Leagues like IPL and WPL are known to bring the hidden domestic talent and the same happened in WPL’s first season. The seasoned players were quite overpowered by the overseas players in the tournament but the youngsters made sure their performances remain out on top.
For instance, the Royal Challenger’s Banglore (RCB) star Richa Ghosh who made a mark with sparkling innings to bring maiden points for her team in points table. RCB won two of the matches out of eight they played. In each of their matches, Richa has been the star performer. Remember the flying girl from India vs England 2021, T-20 tournament, Harleen Deol. She did wonder’s in this season’s WPL as well. Deol who is associated with the Gujrat Giants (GG) and is an all-rounder right-hand batsman and right-arm-leg spinner. Her crucial 46 runs knock against the UP warriors remains the memorable one.
Shikha Pandey another star performer from the WPL, plays for Delhi Capitals. She is a right-arm medium pacer and and bats for the Indian middle order she was earlier at Indian Airforce as Air Traffic Controler. Her crucial wickets against the RCB remain one of the most remarkable spells.
Readers must watch Shefali Verma playing as it is no less than a delight to watch her hammer the bowlers in style. She has the best strike rate in the tournament (182.58), better than any overseas player. She ranks second in the list of hitting most sixes in the tournament. Shefali hit 12 sixes in the tournament so far. Her excellent shots from deep the crease to over the mid-off and on are commendable. She has another record of being the youngest player to do her debut at the international women’s T-20, she did it when she was just 15-years-old.
Saika Ishaque plays for the Mumbai Indians is one among the top five wicket takers of the tournament after English player Sophie Ecclestone (14 wickets) who is the purple cap holder as of now and Amelia Kerr the New Zealand all-rounder. Saika and Amelia share the number of wickets with 13 each. Her unforgettable spell against the Gujrat Giant remains the highest of all. In this innings the GG collapsed at mere 64 against the MI.
Notably, Saika has not made her debut to the international cricket so far, she plays domestic cricket for Bengal.
Kiran Navgire on the other hand is known for her sweeping 4s and 6s, her natural style of playing catches attention. In this season she played for UP Warriorz.
Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Shreyanka Patil, Kanika Ahuja, D Hemalatha are some of the power-hitters and star performers India will take away from this season.
The exposure to young Indian players
With such hiccups, the WPL has still a long way to go. There were some takeaways for the Indian side, especially for this being one of its kind tournament for many. Players like Harman Preet, Mandhana, Shefali have played in the international leagues like Big Bash etc but the young budding players have never been to such an environment. This tournament allowed them to share dressing room with some of the best players from around the world. Close finishes changed their temperament towards the game. These players learned, how not give away so easily and bear the pressure till the last ball.
These women played some of the exquisite shots, hammered international bowlers, put extra effort in the field to make sure they triumph. These girls will take back home a lot of lessons. The same IPL scene where under-19, domestic or club cricket players get a chance to play with international players, this will give the Indian side a wide range of players to select from.
India can pick all-rounders, best fielders, hard-hitters and players who can deal the pressure from these youngsters. Women cricket has witnessed some big highs be it the T-20 Women’s cup, the record-breaking India-England test of 2021 where Sneh Rana’s splendid performance saved the match and almost every tournament these days. These women are in serious business now.
The Fan galore with nearly packed stadiums for the matches in the league will boost the women players. Be it the weekday or weekend, there was a sizable amount of crowd in almost every match. The fans would rush to the stadium to watch their favourites playing even after they miss an hour or so in the game.
These packed stadiums indicate that the league could go on to achieve great things in future. The franchise will tend to collaborate with more domestic players. With the exemplary success of the maiden women’s league, one can expect more such tournaments in the future.
With such great exposure, the Indian international players were not into their forms and this can be another reason why tournaments like WPL are important.
The Indian Giants missed the spark
Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana are leading two teams in the WPL this season. Their performances too have been phenomenal as they truly lead from the front. Hraman’s brazing knock in the opening game have been a feast. Harleen and Yashika Bhatia did well both with the bat and the ball.
With the star performers Smriti was not into her best form this season maybe due to the captaincy pressure. Renuka Singh Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues were among the bestest players. Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh and Sneh Rana did perform but they could not carry the form throughout the league.
The Overseas Supremacy
Out of the 20 matches played in the tournament, 15 awards went to an overseas player. The teams heaving relied on these players in the matches which should be taken as a surprise. Also, in the list of best players who performed in the tournament, the top five are overseas. In the best ballers list, we have Sika Ishaque.
Meg Lanning (Australia) and Marizanne Kapp (South Africa) for DC, Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Natalie Sciver-Brunt (England) and Amelia Kerr (New Zealand) for MI, Alyssa Healy (Australia), Tahlia McGrath (Australia) and Grace Harris (Australia) for UP Warriorz, Sophie Devine (New Zealand) and Ellyse Perry (Australia) for RCB and Ashleigh Gardner (Australia) and Kim Garth (Australia) for Gujarat Giants – the league stage saw these proven international performers take great responsibility for their respective teams.
For the women’s to reach at a tournament like WPL has never been easy, there are interviews and statements of these players where they recall how they used to play between hundreds and hundreds of boys.
The tide turned for the women’s cricket in 2017 when they reached the ICC World Cup finals. Then in 2022 when they beat Sri Lanka to win the Asia Cup and the most hit remains the one in 2022 ICC Women’s World cup where they missed the semis.
The tournament will not only bring the hidden Indian stars but it will also sharpen the forms of Indian players. Readers can expect with coming seasons, overseas supremacy will decline and the Indian players will rise in numbers and performance. Tournaments like these will also encourage young Indian girls to opt for cricket or any other sport as career option. The WPL will surely change the fate of women’s cricket.
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