With the first-ever season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) all set for kick-off, the auctions for the inaugural season were held on Monday (February 13). Big names like Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Meg Lanning went under the hammer and were bought for a big price. After the auctions Board of Control for India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah spoke on how the WPL could revolutionise the women’s game.
Jay Shah has his say on the WPL
"The WPL is going to revolutionise the way we look at women's cricket. The huge success of the WPL auction has not only given an opportunity to many prospective talent to showcase their skills on the big stage but also to young budding cricketers to take centerstage on a global level,” Shah told ANI after the auctions.
“The reception from fans around the world has been overwhelmingly positive and this will only continue to grow as the league matures.
“The WPL will set a template for other sports to follow suit. We saw what happened with the men's IPL and how other sporting leagues cropped up after 2008. The WPL will ensure the growth of multi-genre sport among women," the BCCI secretary added.
Shah said that WPL was created not only as a platform for women in India and across the world to showcase and hone their cricket, but also to inspire the next generation of women to make professional sports a career option.
"Without a ball being bowled, the WPL is the largest sporting league. With women's cricket well on its way to cement itself in mainstream sports, the WPL will only fortify the ecosystem around women's cricket. The initial response to the WPL has definitely showcased the potential the league has to become the biggest women's domestic sporting tournament," added Shah.
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When will the WPL start?
The inaugural edition of WPL will be played in Mumbai from March 4 to 26 across two Mumbai venues and the player auction for the same will be held on February 13.
A total of 1,525 players registered for the inaugural WPL auction and the final list was pruned to 409 players.
The five franchises -- Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Delhi Capitals --were acquired by the owners of the three IPL teams along with Adani Group and Capri Global for a total of INR 4669.99 crore (about USD 572.78 million). This represents the largest deal ever made in women's cricket. The successful bidders were announced on January 25.
