Sports

Foreign star shines, WPL ends with promise of change in Indian cricket

The Women’s Premier League (WPL) made an impressive debut and ended on a promising note for India’s budding women cricketers but after a hastily organized debut season, there seems to be a lot of room for improvement. The WPL was played at two Mumbai stadiums, featuring some of the world’s best cricketers, but with the exception of left-arm spinner Saika Ishaq, there was not as much local talent as had been expected.

The five-team competition ended on Sunday with Mumbai Indians skipper Harmanpreet Kaur leading her side to the title as they face a team led by Australian great Meg Lanning in the final. Scores were above 200 runs in many matches during the tournament while the boundaries were short of 42 to 44 metres. Mumbai’s Hayley Mathews became the ‘Purple Cap’ winner with 16 wickets, four of which came in the final.

Nat Sciver Brunt was the ‘overall’ top performer, scoring 332 runs and taking 10 wickets. Mumbai Indians’ Ishaq took 15 wickets, while Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Shreyanka Patil and Kanika Ahuja made their mark on the big stage but the gap between the Indian domestic circuit and the world’s best players was stark. Harmanpreet admitted that Indian players did not get many roles and playing opportunities but added value to their team with their fielding, citing the examples of Mumbai Indians’ Amanjot Kaur and Jintimani Kalita.

The Indian skipper also hoped that the young and ‘uncapped’ Indian players would be wiser from their experience and understand what they need to do to bridge the gap between themselves and the overseas players. Delhi head coach Jonathan Batty has a message for the Indian youngsters to work on their game and fitness for the second season. Royal Challengers Bangalore, led by Smriti Mandhana, had to face defeat in five consecutive matches.

The Indian player admitted that he found it difficult to lead a team full of players of bigger stature and more experience than him. She herself could not contribute with the bat for RCB which has players like Ellyse Perry, Heather Knight, Sophie Devine, Megan Schutt and Renuka Singh. Players such as Healy and Sophie Eccleston expressed their desire for ‘home and away’ matches to be played from next season, giving teams the advantage of home fans. It remains to be seen whether the BCCI decides to organize the next WPL in ‘home-away’ format or not.

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