Former captain Mithali Raj feels the Indian women's cricket will benefit a lot from the proposed Indian Premier League (IPL) for the eves.
The IPL is likely to have a proper women's tournament from 2023—the Women’s Indian Premier League (WIPL). The BCCI secretary Jay Shah has said that the event would be a priority for them and they will do everything to make it happen next year.
Mithali felt the tournament will help increase the talent pool in the country.
“WIPl will be a huge boost to women's cricket. One of the biggest benefits will be that the talent pool will increase and the transition for a domestic player to the international level will become easier. Rubbing shoulders with international stars will help in doing that,“ Mithali said during a Question & Answer session on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the former IPL chairman and the brains behind the IPL, Lalit Modi opined on the tournament and said that every IPL franchise should have a women's team, rather it should be made mandatory.
"I didn't see much of IPL women's games this year (Women's T20 Challenge), but I think one of the biggest things they should do is make it mandatory for an IPL franchise to have a women's team," Modi told NDTV.
"If an IPL franchise owner is able to have a women's team, you'll see the bench strength in Indian women's cricket go up. You'll see investment in women's cricket by owners who are already making good money now," he said.
Mithali announced her retirement from cricket last month. She ended her glorious career after amassing 7805 ODI runs in 232 matches at an average of over 50. She also scored 2364 runs in 89 T20Is, as well as 699 runs in 12 Tests, including a century and four half-centuries.
The 39-year-old Indian finished her career as the top run-scorer in ODI cricket, 1813 runs ahead of the next highest -- England's Charlotte Edwards.
