Full-fledged Women's IPL will surely take place 'in a year or two', says Shikha Pandey

Indian women's team pacer Shikha Pandey believes that a Women's IPL will inspire many young girls in the country to take up cricket as a sport.

Shikha Pandey believes that there is a lot of talent for cricket in India and added that these individuals just need to be motivated to move up the ranks.

BCCI's first sincere attempt to promote women's T20 cricket was made in 2018 when they hosted a one-off women's T20 match that ran parallel with the men's IPL playoffs. The game was between two teams called the Supernovas and the Trailblazers.

In 2019, the BCCI made it a three-team affair, adding another team by the name of Velocity. It was once again played in parallel with the men's IPL playoffs. There were four games, with each team playing the others once and then the two best teams playing the final.

Women's IPL would take place in a year or two: Shikha Pandey

This time, BCCI wanted to add another team to the tournament to make it a four-team affair with seven games in total. However, the tournament was postponed indefinitely due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the postponement, Shikha Pandey remains optimistic about the prospect of the Women's IPL taking place, adding that she is certain that the tournament will take place in a year or two. She was quoted as saying by ANI:

“It would inspire the younger lot to take up cricket. We have got a huge talent pool within our domestic cricket, I would say Women’s IPL should happen and I am very sure in another year or two, we will see a very well organised Women’s IPL."

"We have played Women’s T20 Challenge in 2018 and 2019, the kind of reception we got from the people that came to watch those matches was amazing, the stadium was jampacked, any international series we play in India, we have always received great support from the crowd.”

Shikha Pandey also feels that the Women's IPL would provide many women cricketers in India with a chance to play alongside world-class cricketers from other countries, making it a great learning experience.

Moreover, if the Women's IPL is televised, it would be a lot easier to inspire many young girls and generate excitement about the sport.