“A Women’s IPL should be top priority now”: Michael Vaughan adds pressure on Sourav Ganguly for organizing the Women’s IPL

Michael Vaughan adds pressure on Sourav Ganguly for the initiation of long overdue Women’s Indian Premier League.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in general, and its President Sourav Ganguly in particular, have come under the scanner off-late for their alleged lackadaisical attitude towards the initiation prospect of a women’s Indian Premier League (IPL) in the country.

Ganguly, during an interaction with the Sportstar magazine on Thursday, invited some fresh criticism his way after him implying that a dearth of player pool count in India is the roadblock for the organization of a Women’s IPL.

“The Women’s T20 Challenge will again be back this year in the month of May. Hopefully, in the future, we will be able to host a bigger women’s IPL once the number of women players [player pool] goes up. But this year, the Women’s T20 Challenge will happen during the IPL playoffs,” remarked Ganguly after being asked on his plans for the Women’s IPL.

Michael Vaughan adds pressure on Sourav Ganguly

Former England batter and skipper Michael Vaughan too, has come up with a message for the BCCI President, suggesting him that it is high time that a Women’s IPL is prioritized.

The calls for a Women’s IPL gained momentum ever since India finished as runners-up at the 2017 ODI World Cup losing against England, and then again when they finished second again during the 2020 T20 World Cup against Australia.

The success of Indian players like Harmanpreet Kaur, Poonam Yadav, Smriti Mandhana, and Jemimah Rodrigues for their respective franchises in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) and ‘The Hundred’ have further made case for an introduction of the IPL before the world’s richest board.

It is also worth reminiscing that Ganguly had, even in December 2019, cited a ‘lack of depth’ as the reason why the BCCI is not keen to give a ‘go ahead’ to the women’s IPL.

“You need to understand the practicality of it,” he told India Today. “You need a lot more women players. I see that in four years’ time, to get a seven-team IPL with the best women players [in participation],” Ganguly had remarked back then.

Former Indian skipper’s aforementioned statements have been countered by a section of fans on social media, who have argued that there is, in fact, more than an enough pool of players available in the country.

Presently, it is the Women’s T20 Challenge- a three-team, four-match event, which is the lone T20 competition for India’s women cricketers. It is set to return back in May this year, after the previous season was called-off due to COVID-19.