The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 might be gearing up for its return on September 19 in the UAE but there still isn’t much clarity on the resumption of Indian women’s cricket. A Women’s T20 Challenge was also supposed to be a part of the IPL Season 13, with reports suggesting that Jaipur could hold as many as 7 ‘women’s IPL’ matches. With there being no clarity over the Indian eves’ future, an ex-Indian women’s cricketer has hit out at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
The BCCI doesn’t even have a selection panel for women’s cricketer at present after the contract of the previous selectors expired. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic the Indian women’s team’s tour of England in September was also cancelled despite the fact that the ECB is successfully hosting West Indies in for a men’s Test series at present and are set to host Pakistan too.
Speaking to The Week, a former Indian women’s team player expressed her disappointment over the BCCI’s decision to cancel the England tour, while another lashed out at the board for ignoring women’s cricket.
“It is sad, women couldn’t go to England, they could have undergone quarantine there, the BCCI can afford it, right?,” said a senior former player. “Like most things in this country, even women’s cricket is just an afterthought for BCCI is what comes out of the whole thing,” said another former player.
“The window for IPL is from September 19 to November 8 in UAE. This is clashing with the women’s Big Bash League and top players may not be available,” said Patel. “Had ICC announced the T20 WC postponed earlier we could have spoken with other boards and discussed a window for women’s matches.”
Veteran India cricketer Mithali Raj had, in fact, admitted that women’s cricket in India is expected to go a couple of years back because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Unfortunately, women’s cricket may have been set back by a couple of years by this pandemic as some of the momentum that had been built between India’s success in World Cup 2017 and World T20 2020 has been lost,” Mithali had said.
While the resumption of men’s cricket is necessary from the revenue point of view, women’s cricket is expected to take the back seat.
