Women's IPL will help us see higher-pressure situations: Smriti Mandhana

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 9 (ANI): India's women's team vice-captain Smriti Mandhana believes that Women's IPL will create bench strength for India and help the girls see higher pressure situations. The inaugural Women's IPL season is anticipated to start from March 3 to 26.

"Women's IPL is going to be a great tournament in terms of bench strength. What happened to women's cricket is that a bench strength was created in the same way. Just like Women's Big Bash and Women's 100 did for Australia and England respectively in the same way Women's IPL will help us see higher pressure situations. So, they will be ready when they will play international cricket," said India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana while speaking to ANI.

Women's Indian Premier League (WIPL) is set to start as a five-team tournament next year immediately after the conclusion of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup on February 26.

The Women's T20 Challenge, which began as a two-team one-off game in 2018 before expanding to a three-team exhibition tournament in 2019 and two further editions in 2020 and 2022, will be replaced by this competition.

Though BCCI has not finalised the schedule of the WIPL, it will end before the men's IPL. The men's IPL is likely to start in March. It is also likely that WIPL clashes with the first-ever season of the Women's Pakistan Super League.

Women's cricket has started getting popularity in India ever since the women's team reached the finals of the 2017 ODI World Cup, where they lost to England. In 2018, BCCI launched the Women's T20 Challenge, which was initially a one-match event. But over the years, it was extended to three teams.

The growth on the domestic front in women's cricket has been massive, during the eight-year period between 2014-2022. A further breakdown also listed numbers increasing to 129 per cent in the senior women's category and 92 per cent in the under-19 category.

WIPL will join The Hundred, Caribbean Premier League, and Women's Big Bash League as T20 leagues that have increased the global popularity of women's cricket. (ANI)