After years of clamour from cricketers, fans and media alike, the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League kicked off last weekend with the Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians sweeping aside the Adani-owned Gujarat Giants by 143 runs.
This demolition by one of the most successful cricket franchises in T20’s short but storied history harkened back to 18 April 2008, when the legendary New Zealand batsman Brendon “Baz” McCullum’s blistering century set the men’s Indian Premier League (IPL) alight from the opening match itself.
The past week saw that long-awaited breaking of the glass ceiling in the context of Indian women’s cricketers, who now finally have the chance to claim franchise T20 riches just like the men did 15 years ago. And that is why the burgeoning WPL is ThePrint’s Newsmaker of the Week.
The road ahead remains long for the league to cement itself as viable rather than short-lived phenomenon, not only in improving the on-field product but also in the planning behind-the-scenes.
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Silencing sexists, sceptics
Much like the broader history of the game on a global level, women’s cricket in India has also been associated with institutionalised other-isation and misogynistic attitudes, be it absurdly low payments made to women’s domestic cricket talent or the mere “lip service” by previous BCCI administrations towards the women’s game.
Women’s cricket governance globally had merged with its male counterpart in 2005 and the subsequent merger of the Women’s Cricket Association of India with the BCCI happened the following year, but the game’s progress remained slow for the decade that followed.
It was as recently as 2017 that former cricketer and then-BCCI office bearer Diana Edulji had alleged former BCCI chair N Srinivasan told her that women’s cricket in India “wouldn’t happen” if he had his way.
Two years later, prominent male cricketers Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul had found themselves in hot water due to jokes and remarks, made during an appearance on the hit chat show Koffee with Karan, that were perceived as misogynistic, including by Edulji.
The connection between such incidents and policymaking within BCCI towards women’s cricket may have appeared tenuous on the surface, but were also indicative of a general underlying dismissive attitude towards the women’s game, especially when the men’s IPL juggernaut rolled on year after year.
After the WPL was officially announced by the BCCI this year, scepticism around the tournament’s viability has emerged, this time stemming from established heads within cricket media. A journalist faced criticism on social media after they stated that from a business standpoint, the tournament should be in the T10 rather than the T20 format.
Fans and peers argued that the journalist’s view was not in tune with the rising popularity of women’s T20 cricket, as seen in numerous Women’s T20 World Cups, the Women’s Big Bash League as well as the Commonwealth Games.
Also read: Inaugural Women’s Premier League season: How the 5 teams stack up…
Fixing teething problems
But those betting big on women cricket must have seen the ‘deal’ behind.
Long-term growth as a product, rise in the metrics of broadcasting revenue as well as the optics of high attendance, fan engagement and quality of cricket are all likely to add up for WPL.
From the Rs 12 crore auction purses held by the five franchises to the 5-year Rs 951 crore broadcasting deal bagged by Viacom 18, the investment poured into the WPL has been modest by IPL standards but remains significant in the context of the women’s game and where it stands today.
While the TV and streaming rights holders Sports 18 and Jio Cinema are yet to publish official viewership numbers for the first week of the tournament, the organisers have at times been found wanting on the issue making the game as accessible to fans as possible.
In order to cut travel, infrastructure and logistical costs, all 22 matches of this five-team league are being played slated to be held within two stadiums in downtown south Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. The decision may prove to be prudent given the short notice at which the league’s first season has been put together.
However, despite the league providing free entry to women of all ages, attendance has been visibly inconsistent particularly in games not involving the league’s three pre-existing franchises — the “home team” Mumbai Indians, the Royal Challengers Bangalore, and the Delhi Capitals.
Not only did the organisers fail to give themselves the best possible chance of allowing the franchises to connect to local fanbases, the attendance also appeared to be compounded by the antiquated system of male fans being forced to line up in droves to collect physical tickets at box offices located far from the stadiums. The official ticketing platform, BookMyShow, has since claimed to rectify the issue by digitising tickets for all matches from 8 March onwards.
Also read: It’s time for a women’s IPL — it’ll grow the game and churn out talented, ‘ready’ players
Lopsided results similar to 2008 IPL
Over two years of cricket matches played during the Covid-19 pandemic has shown that lack of crowds or no crowds lessens the onscreen entertainment quotient and results in losses in potential gate receipt earnings for the host venues.
Boisterous crowds also mask games that are otherwise one-sided, forgettable affairs on the field, as was the case with the inaugural 2008 season of the men’s Indian Premier League.
Aside from McCullum’s unbeaten 158 on opening night of IPL 2008, enduring memories of that season include the late Shane Warne leading the unfancied Rajasthan Royals to the title, the groundbreaking “Manoranjan ka Baap” marketing campaign undertaken by broadcasters Sony.
Moreover, stadiums remained packed for the majority of the matches, as fans flocked to see the world’s top male cricketers go toe to toe, even though the quality of the franchises at the time varied wildly with predictable results.
The disparity between the top and bottom of the points table in the WPL is similar so far, to the point that the iconic Gary Lineker quote about football’s simplicity should be repurposed to cricket with the line “…and, in the end, the Mumbai Indians always win”.
A continued trend in these results may well deter fans from attending potential “dead rubber” games in the coming days prior to the playoffs. But the onus to prevent that lies on the franchise owners themselves, particularly RCB, to better plan their recruitment and squad development at next year’s auction.
Keeping in mind these organisational flaws, the WPL has been at the very least a modest success so far. The rest of this season and behind-the-scenes responses to the on-field product will determine whether UP Warriorz captain and Australia wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy’s “gamechanger” label will ring true in the long run.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)