Just as when the Indian women cricketers would have been happy to hear of a confirmation on Women’s T20 Challenge from the BCCI President, the development has not gone done well with the Australian Women Cricketers.
The reason being the clashing of the T20 Challenge, likely to be held between November 1 and November 10, with the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) slated to be held between October 17 and November 29.
A number of Indian women cricketers were supposed to participate in the WWBL but with the both the T20 leagues schedule around the same time, they may now have to either skip it or the Broad for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) will have to arrange for the logistics of the players from UAE to Australia.
T20 Challenge and WBBL clash sad
Australian women’s wicket-keeper batter, Alyssa Healy tweeted, “So during the WBBL…. cool”
She went on to question what would the WBBL contracted Indian players do
“So the Indian players who’ve already signed WBBL contracts will do what? And all the international marquee players that will be in Australia for WBBL? Good luck with it.
“The IPL doesn’t need the marquee players. It’s already large. The women’s format however does. The WBBL and BBL don’t run simultaneously so why does the IPL and WIPL have to?” questioned Alyssa Healy, the player of the Final as Australia won the T20 World Cup earlier this year.
She further termed it sad and wrote: “And how sad that would be for our game considering how fantastic the WBBL is for the internationals who play in it (and for us). Would be a sad move for our sport.”
Indian players welcome
Alyssa Healy was joined in by Australian women’s vice-captain Rachael Haynes, who termed it a shame.
“If true, it’s a shame… while the game continues to grow, premier domestic competitions do not need to compete against each other. They can be used to showcase the game and support its development around the world,” Haynes tweeted.
Even White Ferns veteran batter Suzie Bates also expressed her displeasure at the clashing of WBBL and WIPL and as she tweeted: “What a huge shame for both the WBBL and WIPL competitions there is a clash.”
However, as far as the Indian players were concerned they welcomed decision. With Indian ODI captain Mithali Raj terming it an excellent news, which would start the preparation for the Women’s World Cup early next year.
Her team-mate Jhulan Goswami, also supported the development.