Women’s franchise cricket in India- WPL

The BCCI took the great initiative to start the Women's Premier League in 2023. It was a huge breaking point for all the female cricketers through the length and breadth of the country. Earlier, there was no equality in terms of pay and opportunity between men’s and women’s side of the game. But now, plots are changing and measures are being taken to ensure the growth of women cricketers as well. 

Before 2023, female players had only domestic matches to showcase their talent, but now they have the option to play franchise cricket as well. Huge success of WPL in terms of participation and revenue in now boosting state organisations to conduct franchise cricket at state level as well. DDCA is conducting Delhi Premier League, MCA is organising Mumbai League, and so on. All these mini franchise league tournaments are being conducted with the inspiration to generate more players for WPL.

Helping in growth 

Mega events like IPL and WPL help in the development of sports. They help in nurturing talent by providing the right platform. Many players like Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh etc. are the finds of IPL only. Moreover, if we look at the women’s side, Sajana Sanjeevan was one of the finds of WPL. She scored a six on the last ball and even earned her India call up later. 

Not only the current players but franchise league helps retired players as well. They get a chance to participate, and be part of the system, as they take up roles of coaches, trainers, mentors etc. Hence, such leagues are a great platform for everyone to stay in the cricket circuit. 

Basic details of the tournament 

• Tata Group were the title sponsors 
• The tournament is held in double round robin format 
• The league’s mascot is Shakti, which is a tigresses 
• Players were picked in auction, with Smriti Mandhana being the most expensive player, she was bought for 3.4 crore 
• Franchises earn through- profits, revenue from central licensing, merchandise, ticket sales and advertising. 

Teams 

Response 

The response of WPL was much larger than expected. People showed up in huge numbers and by the end of the second season, stadiums were jam packed. Earlier, it was a male dominated sport, but now, people are willing to watch women’s cricket as well. At the grassroots level as well, more and more young girls are willing to take up cricket. Hence, it is a huge success and will get bigger and better in the following years.

Jist of season 1 and season 2

The first season of WPL was won by Mumbai Indians. All the matches were held in Mumbai, either in DY Patil Stadium or in Brabourne Stadium. Most runs were scored by Meg Lanning (345) and most wickets were taken by Hayley Matthews (16). Highest total was 223/2 by Delhi Capitals against Royal Challengers Bangalore and the lowest total was 64 by Gujarat Giants against Mumbai Indians. 

The second edition of WPL was held in M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore and Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. It was bigger and better than the first edition as crowds showed tremendous support. In 2024, Ellysse Perry was the purple cap holder as she managed to score 347 runs. Shreyanka Patil was the purple cap holder with 13 dismissals under her belt. 

Transition in women’s cricket after inclusion of WPL 

Cricket has always been known as the ‘gentlemen’s game’ which has invariably been dominated by men. Initially BCCI too only regulated men’s cricket and it was just recently in 2006 when the Women’s Cricket Association of India merged with the BCCI and the latter started considering the requirements of the female athletes. Consequently, we are seeing an accelerated transition as more steps are being taken by the board to promote women’s cricket. In fact, a lot has changed after the inclusion of the Women's Premier League.

Global competitiveness
WPL merged both the domestic and the international players and brought them in a single domain. This has helped in the growth of women’s cricket as junior players get various opportunities of learning from the senior players, be it on the ground or off the ground. Players like Smriti Mandhana, Ellyse Perry are in the same ecosystem as a young cricketer, this is helping the latter in learning from the best in business. 

Franchise cricket 

After the introduction of WPL, popularity of franchise cricket has increased in the domestic circuit as well. State associations are also willingly conducting it and hence it is helping in providing the right stage to domestic players. Players at junior level are learning the tactics to handle match pressure, and this is making them a better player both skill wise and mental strength wise. Thus, it is preparing them for the bigger platform. 

Both at international and domestic level, the match fee of female cricketers has increased significantly. In fact, at international level, it is equivalent to the men's team now. Because of financial stability provided by the board now, more young cricketers are willing to pursue a full time career, which was not the case earlier. Earlier, female cricketers used to get INR 1500 per match, but now, after so many revolutionary changes, the match fees is increased to INR 50,000 per match. This provides great financial stability to players. 

Prize money introduced in domestic matches 

The prize money for winning a championship in the domestic circuit has also notably increased. This has provided the players a motivation to perform even better and one can see hunger within the girls to grab the trophy. The winning team at senior level gets INR 50,00,000 and that sum is distributed among players and support staff.

Increase in number of participants 

Earlier a handful of players used to play cricket, but now, with so many opportunities, more and more parents are willing to put their children in this sport. Cricket is no longer a male dominant sport. Slowly and steadily an equality is coming between both the genders, which itself is an indicator of development of the sport and the society in general. More and more players are willing to take up the sport professionally. 

Increase in number of domestic matches- introduced U15, days zone game etc 

Since the number of participants are increasing, the BCCI has introduced the U15, days game in women’s cricket now. This is opening new arenas in the sport as opportunities are now increasing. Earlier the junior level cricket was restricted to Under 19 and that too, a single format. But now, Under 15 is also added. Moreover, many different formats are included. In senior cricket, days cricket has been included at zonal level and soon they would be included at state level too. Hence, all these factors combined have increased the participation of women in cricket. 

Conclusion 

Three Women’s Premier League has established itself as one of the most influential cricket tournaments in the world. Players from different countries come and participate, making it a mega competitive event. Young players get to practice with the senior players and learn from them and the crowd gets a blockbuster tournament. Hence, in all, it has upgraded the quality of cricket. In just a few seasons, the league has proved to be a massive success, generate good revenue and most importantly, given the right platform to players. This is truly a revolutionary change in the country!