The Lucrative T20 Women’s Cricket League In India Starts Amid Much Fanfare

The moment finally arrived for the cashed-up three-week tournament hailed as a game-changer for women’s cricket.

And the anticipation was palpable as spectators seemingly grasped the enormity of the occasion, which might just prove a harbinger moment.

Amid much fanfare on Saturday night at the packed DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, Hayley Matthews hit the first ever six in the historic Women’s Premier League in India. Remember that for future trivia nights.

This was an extravagant launch akin to gaudy spectacles at the men’s counterpart Indian Premier League – cricket’s biggest and most lucrative league – with a Bollywood show beforehand underlining the pomp of a tournament where the top players are being paid around $400,000.

The highly anticipated opening match between Mumbai and Gujarat hailed the arrival of this progressive league that came along quickly in recent months, but was a long time coming.

Women’s cricket has been around in India for 50 years but it has been slow to develop there compared to trendsetters Australia and England, who naturally had the early running in international cricket and established leagues.

Previously, they had believed that a women’s league was not commercially viable before being swayed.

A couple of seismic moments certainly would have made India’s savvy administrators, always looking for the next pot of gold, take note.

India’s momentous victory over all-conquering Australia at the 2017 World Cup semi-final in England, marked by Harmanpreet Kaur playing a jaw dropping innings, reverberated in the cricket-crazy populace of over a billion.

It was a performance that showed India were well and truly a sleeping giant in women’s cricket and could grab a stranglehold – both on-and-off field – much like they have in the men’s game this century.

The 2020 T20 World Cup final between India and Australia at an 85,000 MCG, just before the pandemic, also underlined the growing interest in women’s cricket. But for the game to truly emerge, India’s all-powerful and cash-rich governing body needed to invest significant resources into it.

In other words, an equivalent to the IPL was needed. A trial run of a three-team league in 2018 was staged alongside the IPL, but – as the pandemic started to ease – it was time for something much more substantial to truly emerge.

There was a clear opportunity for India to take charge of women’s cricket for the first time and take it to another level. No other country – not even Australia or England – could possibly dream of, but India could due to its enormous heft.

Thus the WPL was born and the investment has already been mammoth after the sale of the five teams fetched $572 million on the back of Viacom 18 forking out $116 million for the media rights for the next five years. The value per-game is around $1 million.

India’s cricket boss Jay Shah, who is probably the most powerful figure in the sport, deserves credit for pushing ahead with this tournament that should inspire young female players worldwide.

There is a lot of cynicism around the motives of India’s administrators, some of it justified, but it’s hard to be dubious about the WPL. It will hopefully kick-start other countries into gear, especially in South Asia where women’s cricket has been often relegated due to cultural reasons, and increase a depth of talent lacking in the game.

Amid a sea of blue, representing the color of Mumbai, it was India skipper Harmanpreet who stole the show with a rapid half-century as she justified her $218,000 deal.

Harmanpreet was greeted with euphoria at every turn, underlining her transcendent type of appeal.

There surely were giddy girls watching in the terraces, roused by the deeds of their hero amid this bedlam, inspired to take up this bat and ball sport worshipped in India and beyond.