Smriti Mandhana Wishes For Women's Edition of IPL, Feels It Will Improve The Quality Of Women's Cricket In India 

Indian woman cricketer Smriti Mandhana has voiced her opinion in the favour of a women’s edition of the Indian Premier League. The Indian opener feels that it will improve the quality of women’s cricket in India. Mandhana talked about the matter in a conversation with Ravichandran Ashwin on YouTube. The Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin supported her idea saying it will be 100 percent success.

Smriti Mandhana returned from United Kingdon recently as she took part in the ongoing The Hundred Women’s cricket tournament in London. On the other hand, Ravichandran Ashwin is currently in the United Kingdom busy with India’s tour of England 2021. 2 Test matches of the tournament have been concluded while 3 are yet to take place. India leads the series 1-0 after winning the recent 2^nd Test at Lord’s.

Smriti Mandhana Bats For Women’s Edition of IPL

During a conversation with the Indian spinner on her YouTube channel, Smriti Mandhana reckoned that a women’s edition of IPL will help to understand the depth of women cricket players in India.

“In women’s cricket, we have not had any competitions or any T20 tournaments, so how can we know if we have any depth or not? I think we have enough for a 5 or 6 team tournament so that we can eventually build towards an 8-team tournament. Until we start, we are not giving any exposure to girls to move to the next level,” Mandhana said.

The left-handed batswoman also pointed out that the quality of men’s cricket improved post the establishment of the Indian Premier League. She feels that women’s cricket will benefit in the same way.

“When the men’s IPL started, there were the same number of states (in the men’s and women’s game) and the quality went higher as they played. IPL today isn’t the same as it was 10 or 11 years ago. I think it’s the same for women’s cricket. I think we have enough girls in the states to start a 5-6 team tournament at least. We can then gradually build our way to an 8-team tournament,” she further said.

Smriti Mandhana recently opted out of the ongoing The Hundred Women’s competition in London, UK. The 25-year-old player cited personal reasons for her departure from the tournament.

Playing 7 matches for the Southern Brave franchise, she scored 167 runs at an average of 27.83. Mandhana also smacked a knock of 78 runs in one game, which was her highest score in the tournament.

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