BCCI remains committed to women's cricket: Shantha Rangaswamy
When the BCCI made the formal announcement for the 13th edition of the IPL, it ensured that women’s cricket was not left behind. Former India captain and BCCI’s Apex Council member Shantha Rangaswamy has said the decision to organise Women’s T20 Challenge during the IPL shows that the Indian board is committed to the game. She also hoped that it would lead to a full-fledged Women’s IPL in the near future.
The announcement came at a time when there were concerns from certain corners that the board was not serious about women’s cricket. The criticism had gained further voice after the BCCI had decided to withdraw Indian women’s team from a tri-series in England in September. India’s women’s team has been out of action since the World T20 World Cup final which was held earlier this year in March.
“Those who were predicting doomsday for women’s cricket, I want to say to them BCCI is interested in promoting women’s cricket and I would like to thank Brijesh Patel (IPL Chairman), president (Sourav Ganguly) and secretary (Jay Shah) for making this possible in these tough times,” Rangaswamy told PTI.
“It was supposed to be a four-team event this year but the venue change has made the task much tougher. I am happy that it is happening and hopefully will lead to a franchise-based tournament like the IPL in the near future,” she said.
The Women’s event is clashing with the Big Bash League in Australia and star Australian player Alyssa Healy has questioned the timing of the event. However, Rangaswamy assured that the BCCI has done the best that could have been done during the COVID-19 pandemic. “We are going through unprecedented times and the board has done the best it could in the current scenario,” she added.
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