Women’s Premier League will make Indian cricket richer says Rachael Haynes

The head coach of Gujarat Giants Rachael Haynes says that Women’s Premier League will have a massive effect and will make Indian cricket richer, just like the Women’s Big Bash League did in Australia.

History is set to be made in the month of March as the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League gets the ball rolling in India. After years of being floated around as a concept, the tournament has now become a reality and it is being viewed as the next big thing in women’s cricket.

If the men’s Indian Premier League, which had begun with a similar level of excitement and hype in 2008, is anything to go by, then the WPL could be a game-changer and provide a mega boost to the women’s game.

Even before the first ball has been bowled in the WPL, the tournament has already been in the spotlight for being the most lucrative in the women's game when Viacom18 won the media rights for the WPL for a whopping INR 951 crore (US$ 116.7 million approx.) for a period of five years in January. Just a few days later, the BCCI sold the five franchises for an eye-watering sum of INR 4669.99 crore (US$ 572.78 million approx).

That lucrative influx of cash also seeped into the players’ bank balances as several superstars received mega paydays in the very first Women’s Premier League auction. Indian star Smriti Mandhana became the most expensive buy at INR 3.4 crore while Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner became the most expensive overseas player along with Nat Sciver at INR 3.2 crore each. Moreover, Beth Mooney also received a large sum of INR 2 crore for her services.

Former Australian player Rachael Haynes who will be seen in the dugout as the head coach of Gujarat Giants in the Women’s Premier League says that the influx of money is a huge prospect of the tournament and makes it very lucrative for the biggest players taking part. It will prove to be a reference point for emerging women’s cricketers across the globe and will also help to bridge the gap between domestic and international cricket for Indian players, like it has for the Australian players at the WBBL and the England players through the Hundred.

"First and foremost, it [WPL] is going to draw so many different people to the game, hopefully, who will get to experience and come to know some of the female players which we've all known for some time," Haynes said.

"It will also create really good opportunities for the domestic players in India. We've seen how positive that is in terms of creating depth in international sides around the world. If I think of the Australian system in the WBBL and what's that done for Australian cricket, the same happens in the Hundred as well, albeit in a different format.

"There are lots of different elements that hopefully can come together through the WPL and hopefully, Indian cricket can be richer for it," she added.