Women’s cricket Premier League is an exciting concept but beware of match fixers

The concept of the women’s cricket Premier League will be a huge leap forward for women’s cricket in India and is very likely to have a positive impact on world cricket too. The format of the tournament has been well thought out and is likely to help more talent to emerge from the small towns and rural areas as well as the established cricket centres. For too long women’s cricket has been a poor cousin of the men’s version of the game and the Premier League for women is the first step to rectify this anomaly.

But amidst all the euphoria the organisers have to also take steps to guard against malpractices. As everyone knows, where there is big money there are big crooks. The men’s IPL has been hit by match fixing and spot fixing issues from time to time. Now that big money is coming into women’s cricket too and there will be increased interest by spectators and sponsors, there is a strong likelihood that crooked elements will make an attempt to put their sticky fingers into the jackpot here as well.

It would be tragic for all sports if our talented women players are lured by money to cross the thin line dividing honesty and dishonesty. Earlier, in the wake of the 2013 spot-fixing and betting scandal, which rocked the cricket world, three cricketers namely S. Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested by the Delhi Police. Two teams, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, were suspended for two years.

However it seems that the lessons of the 2013 IPL were quickly forgotten. The malady cropped up again last year. The CBI booked seven suspected punters in connection with two separate cases related to the alleged fixing of 2019 IPL matches “based on inputs” from Pakistan. A few days before the start of the IPL 2022, the former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor confessed that he was asked to fix matches by Indian businessmen.

So it is clear that bookies and underworld characters are closely watching all developments in cricket. There is no doubt that they will also try to interfere with women’s cricket now because of all the money flowing and attention into the game. This is an aspect that the BCCI watchdogs must carefully guard against. If all goes well, cricket fans can look forward to some exciting contests between the women players.

It was in October 2022, that the BCCI announced that it was planning to conduct a five-team tournament which would take place in March 2023. The new tournament was informally known as the Women’s Indian Premier League. However, the name was later changed to simply Women’s Premier League. The tournament is scheduled to be held from March 4 to 26 and will feature 22 matches at the Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.

At the recently concluded player auction, India’s Smriti Mandhana and England all-rounder Natalie Sciver-Brunt struck it rich. Royal Challengers Bangalore coughed up Rs 3.40 crore to sign Smriti Mandhana. The hard hitting batter is already in the highest bracket in India’s central contract for women cricketers with an annual retainership of Rs 50 lakh.

Natalie Sciver-Brunt joined Mumbai Indians, coached by former England captain Charlotte Edwards, for Rs. 3.20 crore. This is a huge sum even for an overseas player. It is ten times more than the highest salary in the Women’s Hundred competition in England. With so much money being offered, India will soon become the world centre for women’s cricket just as it has become for the men’s version.

In the first season, all matches will be played in Mumbai on two grounds namely the Brabourne stadium and the DY Patil stadium. But as the tournament expands over the next few years, it will be necessary to add more cities in the list. So the day is not far off when Hyderabad will become part of the show and fans in Hyderabad will be able to witness live, the hard fought matches of the women’s Premier League.