Can WPL emulate WBBL’s impact? All eyes on landmark Women’s Premier League in India

Since the Trailblazers and Supernovas played an exhibition match way back in 2018, talks of an IPL-styled league in the women’s arena did the rounds.

After as many as five years later, it’s a reality as the Women’s Premier League (WPL) is all set to take centrestage from Saturday, March 4 onwards.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) took forever, but they eventually ideated and materialised the plans into something concrete, much to their credit.

Now the question is how the WPL will shape the future of Indian cricket, especially in T20s. Before the 50-over World Cup in 2017, Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jhulan Goswami used to be the best known names in Indian women’s cricket.

But after India finished as the runners-up, although they lost to England at the Lord’s, the Smriti Mandhanas, Jemimah Rodrigues and others started becoming household names.

After the World Cup, can the WPL help Indian cricket go a notch up both in terms of quality and popularity?

WBBL- A roadmap for the WPL?

There’s no better example than the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) for the WPL to look up to. Australia have won the Women’s T20 World Cup six times and twice have they won a hat-trick of titles.

The Aussies have given the term domination a whole new dimension altogether with the brand of cricket they play. Even if they face injury concerns, they have the desired backup to fill in the vacant spots.

Tahlia McGrath made her T20I debut back in 2021 and in the very next year, she became the WT20I Player of the Year. Grace Harris has a strike-rate of over 170, which shows the firepower Australia have in their armoury. If someone of the class of Meg Lanning sounds excited about a player, he/she has to be special.

Sophie Molineux and Jess Jonassen have batted in the top order for the Melbourne Renegades and Brisbane Heat respectively in the WBBL. In the Australian team, the two hardly get a chance to bat, not only because they are slotted mostly below No.9, but also for their power-packed top and middle order.

14 Australians will take part in the WPL and that shows the demand their players had in the auction that took place last month.

Need for multi-dimensional players?

The Australians are also imposing for the fact that a number of their players are multi-dimensional. Heather Graham faltered in one of the T20Is against India where she was taken for runs in a Super Over. But later in the series, she picked up a hat-trick.

Graham is yet to show her batting skills at the international level, but the fact that she has scored 1284 runs in the WBBL is a testament to her potential with the willow.

Ash Gardner is a brute force and is amongst the best all-rounders in world cricket. Last year, Rachael Haynes retired from international cricket, but the Aussies haven’t missed her since McGrath has blended beautifully with Alyssa Healy.

India have Deepti Sharma as a genuine all-rounder, someone who has been one of their key players in the shortest format. Pooja Vastrakar and Sneh Rana are effective all-rounders, but do they have the temperament to step up when push comes to shove?

Shafali Verma has rolled her arms over with her off-breaks, but can she become as effective as Gardner? Indian cricket not only needs an upgrade in quality, but players also need proper mental conditioning to survive in tense circumstances.

If Australians are shown a glimmer of hope, they would play out of their skins to not let the opportunity go. India had got themselves in a winning position in the Women’s T20 World Cup semis, but then they were dealing with Australia, for whom winning is second nature.

Mooney, Lanning and Healy to inject Australian culture?

In an Indian tournament, three Australian captains, namely Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning and Alyssa Healy will ply their trade. It shows the dominance of Australian cricket. No other team has come even close to their records and achievements in limited-overs cricket.

Lanning replaced Jodie Fields as the Australian skipper in 2014 and since then, she led the national women’s team to five ICC titles. The fact that she is the only cricketer to lead a national side in 100 T20Is shows her tenacity and temperament to thrive under pressure. Lanning will lead the Delhi Capitals with Jemimah as her deputy.

Beth Mooney is one of the three players along with Kumar Sangakkara and Marlon Samuels to score two fifties in T20 World Cup finals. She is also the only batter to have scored in excess of 4000 runs in the WBBL. Mooney will lead the Gujarat Titans.

Healy needs no introduction. When Healy gets going, the best bowlers look like rookies. She has also played a number of match-winning knocks for the Sydney Sixers in the WBBL. Healy will lead the UP Warriorz.

It goes without saying that Mooney, Healy and Lanning will bring their Australian style of leadership into their WPL teams. A number of young Indian players will take part in the WPL and it’s a great chance for them to pick the brains of the experienced Australian cricketers.

Even as a number of questions regarding the WPL remain unanswered, it remains to be seen if the newborn baby of women’s cricket can replicate the WBBL.