Australian leg-spinner Alana King believes the women’s Indian Premier League will do wonders for Indian cricket and added that plenty of players have been waiting for the launch of the tournament.
2022 Women’s World Cup winner King is the latest name to join the voice for the women’s IPL, having recently seen the depth in Indian domestic circuit. The leg-spinner was a part of the Supernovas team that won the fourth edition of the Women’s T20 Challenge in May. She played a crucial role in winning the tournament, snaring three for 32 in the final against Velocity.
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Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, King said a full-fledged IPL tournament for women like Women’s Big Bash League and The Hundred will be great for the Indian players to showcase their talent.
“A lot of the girls are crying out for something like the IPL to start up. We’ve got the Big Bash, there’s the Hundred and the women’s IPL will be a really good tournament to showcase the Indian domestic players,”
the 26-year-old said.
There has been talk of starting the women’s IPL from next year, the BCCI president Saurav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah hinting at a six-team tournament. The board is looking for a March-April window to organise the league, and it is understood that Cricket Australia has started to factor a window in their scheduling.
King, who has had a great year making her mark in international cricket stated she would definitely put her name in the Premier League when it starts. She added that there’s a scary amount of talent in Indian cricket and unearthing it will be beneficial for world cricket as well.
“It’s scary to see the talent they’ve got in their domestic system. It will do Indian cricket a world of good as well as world cricket. The talk was hopefully there’s a proper IPL next year and I’ll definitely be putting my hand up for it. There’s definitely enough talent within India to start it up.”
She added she had never experienced an atmosphere quite like the one in the Women’s T20 Challenge final at Pune, with 8621 spectators in attendance. The tournament was also her first experience in the country of her parents, who migrated to Australia in 1988. There’s likely to be another trip to India for King, with five T20Is between India and Australia scheduled in December.
