Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has urged BCCI President Sourav Ganguly to ponder on the possibility of a new T20 tournament in India.
Team India faced a crushing loss in the final of the women's T20 World Cup on Sunday. The side faced a 85-run defeat to hosts Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, handing the Aussies a record fifth title. The Indian women's team, thus, remains devoid of an ICC trophy.
However, India enjoyed an excellent campaign throughout the tournament, remaining unbeaten in their run to the final. India had defeated Australia in the group game, and also toppled over teams like New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar acknowledged the impressive performance from the Indian women's team, urging the BCCI and Sourav Ganguly to ponder over the possibility of a women's IPL (Indian Premier League).
"As far as the BCCI is concerned, they are already doing a lot and which is the reason why this Indian women’s team has progressed so much. They went to Australia almost a month before the tournament started, and played a 3-match T20I series (tri-series) against the Australians," Gavaskar told India Today.
"To Sourav Ganguly and the BCCI, I would like to say, maybe next year, look at having a women’s IPL because that will unearth a lot more talent. There is already a lot of talent which we see and that will come to the fore with this performance of this Indian team throughout this tournament."
He drew comparisons from the women's Big Bash League in Australia, which began in 2015/16 and helped unearthed a number of incredible talents in Australia's women's cricket.
Indian players like Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur also participate in the tournament.
“The Australian cricket board has backed Australian women’s team for a long, long time. The Women’s Big Bash League has given plenty of opportunities to players, even our players. The likes of Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet they have played in the WBBL. That is the tournament where you get to play against the best players and learn from that,” the former India captain said.
“It (IPL) has gone deep into the interiors of India. We have got youngsters coming up from the interiors of India and showing their skills. Therefore, that much wider talent pool is available for selection. That’s exactly what happened with the Australian WBBL.”
