Mumbai Indians Take on Gujarat Giants in Women's Premier League Opener
- Navi Mumbai: 15 years after the Indian Premier League revolutionized cricket, our beloved sport is about to dive into another new era. It's finally here, the Women's Premier League- the BCCI's latest blue-eyed baby, and another potential money-spinner.
- Women's cricket will take a leap of faith when the inaugural edition of the WPL kicks off on Saturday night with a blockbuster opening clash between the Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians and Adani-owned Gujarat Giants at the DY Patil Stadium.
- For close to a month, leading up to the final on March 26, the crème da la crème of women's cricket will descend on the shores of Mumbai, representing five franchises-MI, Gujarat Giants, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals and the UP Warrior.
- "I think it is the biggest day for all of us. We are all very excited. This is one of the biggest leagues and we will get a lot of experience and exposure from this. We will get to see a lot of young girls coming from this tournament and this is why we wanted this competition to start. It will definitely improve women's cricket in India," MI captain Harmanpreet Kaur said.
- Defining the importance of WPL for the women's game in India, Harmanpreet said: "We were all looking for the opportunity for the last so many years. Now that this platform is here, it is definitely going to take women's cricket to the next level, especially for the domestic players. The top 25 girls (in India) were always getting the exposure, but for the youngsters, this is a great platform where they can express themselves. Going forward, I think the WPL will help create a good team for Indian cricket. The competition will be tough, which we always spoke about. After this tournament, we will definitely see some good performances and some young girls will come up and do well for the tearn. I just hope whoever gets the opportunity will try to maximise it."
- Ace opener Beth Mooney, who touched down here just three days ago to lead the Gujarat Giants after her unbeaten 74 in the final against South Africa in Cape Town shaped yet another T20 World Cup title triumph for the mighty Aussies, is fired up to give her best shot in WPL.
- It's been a bit of 18, Jio Cinema) whirlwind. I've only been here for 36 hours. I met pe the coaching staff and the players. Every one's very excited to get going. I'm absolutely thrilled and pumped to be here, and m be a part of the first game," she said.
- For the sake of Indian women's cricket, it is being hoped that the WPL will be improve the standards of the Indian 1 team and ultimately help them finally cross that 'big barrier' and beat the world champions Australia.
- "Hopefully (the gap with Australia will close down). After this tournament, competition will be more intense in women's HTTP cricket. Twice, we went very close against B Australia and this time we lost by a lesser margin. Next time, we will get closer (to [ the Aussies) and we will again try to give our best. Our approach is always to win games. I think we made fewer mistakes in this match (referring to the recent close defeat in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup). The fewer mistakes you make in a big match, the better it is. This is the platform where you can make all the mistakes and learn from them, rather than going to the big tournaments and making mistakes there," Harmanpreet said.