The first big fillip to women’s cricket in India came in 2023 when the scale of the winning bids for players at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction outstripped not just other women’s leagues but also any other Indian leagues across sports. Before the 2024 season began, it was clear that the next big leap would require cricket to be of a quality that drew audiences to the grounds and screens. On that front, it was a big success.
The final, which saw Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) win their first title as a franchise (and that includes their much-vaunted Indian Premier League team; perhaps there are lessons to be learnt there as well), was attended by over 29,000 fans in Delhi on Sunday. That’s a healthy number for any match anywhere in the world. The viewership numbers for the final are not in, but last year, WPL is believed to have delivered the highest viewership for any women’s event (in the world).
The success of WPL means much for the sport itself in India — IPL created opportunities for young people from around the country to showcase their skills and played a significant part in making India a powerhouse of cricket (the men’s team is the top-ranked across formats currently), and the women’s version can be expected to do the same. As IPL’s example shows, when such leagues work, they achieve two more things: One, they attract more money to the sport, bettering both infrastructure and the prospects of individual players; and two, they create a global ecosystem of scouts, coaches, physical trainers, medical support staff, and brand managers that only serves to make the sport bigger. We can’t wait for 2025.
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