Australia wicket-keeper batter Alyssa Healy said that BCCI's proposal to start Women's IPL is a step in the right direction.
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Australia wicket-keeper batter Alyssa Healy has welcomed the Board of Control For Cricket in India’s (BCCI) proposal to start a six-franchise Women’s IPL from 2023.
The veteran believes that the proposal is a right step towards developing women’s cricket around the world and highlighted that the tournament will help the game grow in India unbelievably. Incidentally, Healy was a part of the T20 Challenge in India, 2018.
“The announcements of those competitions are pretty great,” Healy said on the sidelines of Women’s ODI World Cup. “It’s exactly where we thought the women’s game needed to go. That was like the next step.
“We’ve had a really successful WBBL, and the Kia Super League went really well, now into the Hundred – there’s sort of some thriving domestic competitions [around the world], so to see the announcement of the IPL, in particular, to be able to grow the game in India is unbelievable.”
READ MORE: Women’s IPL in 2023 subject to AGM approval after BCCI proposal
Healy further believes that India is an untapped market as far as the women’s game is concerned. She also mentioned that the tournament will make India an unbeatable side for 10 years.
“It [India] is such an untapped market, I feel, in the women’s game.
“With that many people, surely, they’re going to be unbeatable in sort of a 10-year time. They just really needed a sort of a leg-up in that domestic set-up to showcase what these amazing women can do, so it’s really exciting.”
The six-franchise Women’s IPL in 2023, was proposed by the BCCI, in the governing council meeting. However, the start of the tournament remains subject to AGM approval.
The Women’s IPL has significantly been boosted by sponsorship for the Women’s T20 Challenge in 2020 as Jio had paid INR 12 crore for the title sponsorship. Notably, the existing franchises in the IPL, could also be asked if they can have a women’s team. If not, the board, will invite outside parties for franchise bids.
The Women’s T20 Challenge, involving three teams, has already been played annually since 2018 alongside the men’s IPL tournament.
India women’s team star players have, meanwhile, plied their trade in T20 leagues outside India like the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) and the T20 Blast but are keen on getting a similar tournament in their country.
The Cricket association of Bengal (CAB) had organized the maiden season of the Bengal Women’s T20 Blast, earlier this year, with 90 players drafted in the list.
