{"id":21568,"date":"2023-03-22T14:21:57","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T14:21:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/22\/the-spin-indias-wpl-has-captured-the-imagination-and-this-is-just-the-start\/"},"modified":"2023-03-22T14:21:57","modified_gmt":"2023-03-22T14:21:57","slug":"the-spin-indias-wpl-has-captured-the-imagination-and-this-is-just-the-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2023\/03\/22\/the-spin-indias-wpl-has-captured-the-imagination-and-this-is-just-the-start\/","title":{"rendered":"The Spin | India\u2019s WPL has captured the imagination and this is just the start"},"content":{"rendered":"

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G<\/span><\/span>iant outdoor advertisements featuring female cricketers occupying pride of place anywhere in India<\/a> is a rarity. Even more so in bustling junctures across the country\u2019s commercial and entertainment hub, Mumbai, where time and space are ever-shrinking commodities.<\/span><\/p>\n

But a seven-storey wallscape with an artwork of the Mumbai Indians\u2019 trio Harmanpreet Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar and Nat Sciver-Brunt has adorned a 20-storey skyscraper near the busy Haji Ali Junction in the southern part of the western Indian city since the start of the month.<\/p>\n

And so have billboards, featuring Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Sneh Rana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma \u2013 that quintet being the cream of women\u2019s cricket talent in the country \u2013 in places of prominence, railway stations included, in Mumbai and, some 30 kilometres away, in New Mumbai.<\/p>\n

The reason why: the inaugural five-team Women\u2019s Premier League (WPL), where all these established names, headlining an overall pool of 87 uncapped and international cricketers, have been in action across the two host cities, Mumbai and New Mumbai, since the tournament kicked off on 4 March.<\/p>\n

If the 20-match league stage of the WPL, the second-most expensive cricket league in the world after the men\u2019s marquee domestic franchise tournament, the Indian Premier League, is anything to go by, the visibility the competition has brought the women\u2019s game in the country is unlike anything previously imagined.<\/p>\n

Official attendances have breached 30,000, with average turnouts ranging from 9,000-13,000 for most games at the two venues staging the tournament: the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai and the DY Patil Stadium in New Mumbai, surprisingly on weekdays, too. Sure, the footfall comes as an obvious vindication of the organiser\u2019s \u2013 the Board of Control for Cricket<\/a> in India (BCCI) \u2013 decision to allow free entry for female spectators, a move aimed at boosting the number of attendees and developing a broader audience for the women\u2019s game in the country.<\/p>\n

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<\/picture><\/div>
<\/svg><\/span>The Delhi Capitals celebrate a wicket against Royal Challengers Bangalore.<\/span> Photograph: Pankaj Nangia\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The strategy was a leaf out of the success of the India v Australia women\u2019s bilateral T20I series at the same grounds in December last year, where a record crowd of more than 47,000 showed up for the second match, at the DY Patil Stadium. But anyone who\u2019s attended the best part of the WPL\u2019s league stage in person these past 18 days will vouch for the fact that men consistently far outnumbered women in the stands. This, despite entry for male spectators costing INR 100 (approximately \u00a31) and upwards.<\/p>\n

The BCCI is yet to release any official numbers on the age or gender breakdown of the attendees, but that the Indian board has put a price on all tickets for Friday\u2019s Eliminator between the Kaur-led Indians and Australia vice-captain Alyssa Healy\u2019s UP Warriorz, starting at INR 50, is further proof of the impressive turnouts at the tournament. In a more unequivocal validation of the resounding on-ground reception of the tournament, the final, scheduled for Sunday where Australia captain Meg Lanning\u2019s Delhi Capitals are assured a place, sold out by Wednesday morning, with tickets priced at INR 250.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me the highlight will definitely be the crowds,\u201d said the Capitals all-rounder Marizanne Kapp, a strong shout for the player of the tournament, after bagging player of the match against Indians on Monday. \u201cHalfway through that game, when I looked up I saw the second tier was packed and you could hear and feel [the cheer] around the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kapp is no stranger to success in overseas leagues. The 33-year-old South African has been on title-winning teams at the Women\u2019s Big Bash League (WBBL) in Australia and The Hundred in England, and finished a runner-up at Cricket Hong Kong\u2019s inaugural FairBreak Invitational tournament last year in Dubai.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, personally, it\u2019s such a proud moment for women\u2019s cricket because never in my life would I have thought, first of all, I will be in the WPL and then women\u2019s cricket having crowds like this,\u201d said Kapp. \u201cIt was a massive surprise seeing how much love we get from people and fans over here. I think this competition will only go from strength to strength and it\u2019s so good to see \u2026 all the hard work that\u2019s been going on [in women\u2019s cricket yielding this response].\u201d<\/p>\n

The England vice-captain and Indians all-rounder Sciver-Brunt echoes Kapp. \u201cThe crowds here we know are cricket-mad and I\u2019ve experienced that a little bit when we\u2019ve been playing for England against India but not as good as this,\u201d said the joint-most expensive overseas player in the league. \u201cThe crowds here have been really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

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<\/svg><\/span>Attendants take a rest inside the Royal Challengers Bangalore team bus in Mumbai.<\/span> Photograph: Indranil Mukherjee\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While strong attendances and primetime TV slots \u2013 matches are played at 3.30pm and\/or 7.30pm local time \u2013 as much as free digital streaming by media-rights owner Viacom 18 will irrefutably leave a strong imprint on the success of the first edition of the WPL, the league has not got everything spot-on in its launch year.<\/p>\n

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