Mithali Raj believes that WPL can change how women’s cricket functions in India
India’s legendary skipper Mithali Raj, opines that there should be a separate wing at the NCA, which should solely run women’s cricket. With the WPL rolling in and the U19 team getting more attention, women’s cricket in India is getting busier. Because of which, she believes that it will be difficult for VVS Laxman (the NCA chief) to manage everything. Thus, she wants someone specific to take care of the women’s department.
She also stated that women cricketers in India do not get to play too many matches in domestic cricket. However, she believes that WPL can change that. She mentioned that there will be scouting camps to identify good players and the teams will eventually put them in the proper system to nurture the talent.
“The busier women’s cricket gets and more tournaments they play, you need to have a separate wing to run women’s cricket. One person can’t manage everything and you need to have someone managing women’s cricket separately. There will be a lot of camps and senior-level matches also. It will in fact help if there is a separate women’s wing. But that is at the discretion of the BCCI.”
“The domestic system, unlike men’s cricket, we don’t have too many matches, we don’t have too many tournaments. So the players are heavily reliant only on these tournaments (One Day League, Super League),” Mithali said in an interview with Indian Express.
She then stated that if a player happens to qualify for the finals of any of these tournaments, then only one gets to play all matches, but still approximately plays only 15 games a year. According to her, that is not enough as these games will not give the cricketers enough exposure.
“In that sense, with the WPL, and scouting and camps, there will be a proper system to nurture it. Then players don’t really have to stress themselves to perform in one tournament. You get another shot at WPL. There is going to be another opportunity where if you do well, you are once again on the radar of the selectors,” she later added.
Raj reveals the reason behind the rise in the popularity of women’s cricket in India
Mithali Raj believes that televising matches and the presence of digital platform has played a massive role in the growth of popularity of women’s cricket in India. She stated that since people are more aware of women’s cricket these days, it has helped the game grow.
“I would say a huge factor in all of this is the televising of matches and the digital platform. In the current age, everyone is on a phone so any news just carries off in seconds. And the more you watch things on the screen or mobile phone, the absorption level only increases. The more the matches are on television, the more content about women’s cricket, people are curious and eager to watch. And with the standard getting better, more and more people are keen to see,” Raj concluded.
