India Women's Team Have Set High Standards With Previous Performances: Anjum Chopra

Former India captain Anjum Chopra brushed aside the need of hosting women’s IPL and said that the 2021 World Cup in New Zealand will be very important and the Indian team should start focusing on it. Her statement comes after the cricket board drew a lot of flak for mishandling of the women’s cricket.

As IPL chairman Brijesh Patel confirmed that IPL 2020 will take place in UAE this year and the board continues to work their way out on arranging the lucrative tournament, the women’s cricket have been placed on the back-burner. There will be no IPL exhibition matches for women this year as it clear does not makes it to the priority list for BCCI.

The India women’s team also suffers as their is no selection panel at place, their tri-series against England and South Africa was called off, and their is no clarity when the team will resume its training. All this comes at a situation when the board is keen on the IPL and the women’s cricket has been overlooked.

“I think it [full-fledged] could have been a reality if everything was fine maybe in another 2 years, it could have been. At the moment, if the women’s team misses out playing their scheduled 7 matches. If the 2020 IPL goes ahead and women are not a party to it, then I think by next year we will play out what this year’s IPL matches would have been because we don’t know what is going to happen to next year,” Anjum Chopra told India Today.

“At this point of time, it doesn’t really matter about only a women’s IPL, the women should start getting to be together, starting focussing on working towards the upcoming World Cup in New Zealand because that is going to be a very important World Cup for the Indian team.

“They have played the final, semi-finals and then the final in the last 3 years, it’s a big World Cup. It becomes very very important. The bar has been set, if you can’t breach it, then at least you have to match it.”

Chopra has represented the national team in six World Cups and has been one of the major contributors for the side.

India women’s cricket team have made the country proud over their last performances in the T20 World Cup and 50-over World Cup, with their last major success coming in the T20 World Cup earlier this year, where they reached the final.