The WPL, a tournament based in India, is transforming women’s cricket
WHO WOULDN’T want a sporting debut like Sajeevan Sajana’s? Playing for Mumbai Indians against Delhi Capitals in the first match of this year’s Women’s Premier League (WPL), a Twenty20 (T20) cricket tournament in India, she strode out to bat with her team needing five runs to win—and with just one delivery remaining in the game. With a smooth swing of the bat, she clouted her first ball in the WPL over the boundary rope for six. Mumbai, the defending champions, were up and running in the most dramatic fashion.
Ms Sajana’s strike was the sort of moment that the WPL was created for. Within minutes it had been clipped and posted on the league’s social-media accounts. It has since been watched more than 700,000 times on X (formerly Twitter) alone.
The WPL, launched last year and run by India’s national cricket board, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is an attempt to replicate the success of the men’s Indian Premier League (IPL). The IPL, launched by the BCCI in 2008, has brought previously unfathomed sums of money into cricket. The WPL could have a similar effect on the women’s game, if to a rather less opulent degree.
The BCCI has sold five franchises to Indian businessmen for a total of $570m. Three of these, based in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi, went to owners of IPL teams, ensuring a level of operational continuity and know-how. The BCCI earned another $116m from the sale of five years’ domestic and digital broadcasting rights for the month-long competition.
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