Why it is time to start a women's IPL

Hurdles in the way

The demand for a women's IPL is steadily on the rise

Despite the strong demand, no assurances have been received from the BCCI or the IPL committee that the idea of an IPL for women is being considered seriously as of now. The main obstacle to having a women's IPL would be to strike the kind of advertising and sponsorship deals that men's cricket enjoys.

It is of course well known that the IPL is an advertiser's dream. Crazy amounts of money are spent because of the high margins of profits that are generated in the first place. With no assurance of a high degree of viewership in women's cricket, it is unlikely to attract the same kind of interest from the advertisers.

But it does not end there, it is in fact, a vicious cycle. Meagre investment means meagre return. One just needs to compare the quality of broadcasting that the IPL enjoys with any domestic cricket tournament in India. With no fancy camera angles, spider cams, zing bails and most importantly a mostly empty stadium, domestic tournaments cannot even be compared to the IPL in scale and proportion.

One has to admit that it is the cloud of noise and excitement that surrounds cricket, from constant pre-match coverages by journalists to the grandiosity brought about by television broadcasting and sponsorship, that makes cricket what it is today.

It is these external forces that control the beautiful game, it is these outside factors that have made cricketers superstars and brought them virtually into our drawing-rooms. Any form of cricket that does not witness that kind of investment will lag behind in viewership and interest. That is where the women's game begins to suffer.

But since it is a vicious cycle, we, the viewers, are as much to blame. We come to watch the game we love with strong pre-conceived notions - notions that have taught us to believe that women can never be good cricketers because of biological differences. Or perhaps as good as men.

It is therefore not surprising that a leading cricketer like Shahid Afridi when asked about the development of women's cricket in the country, replies proudly, "Our women are good cooks." It is therefore, a fact that women presenters and anchors have to put up with flirtation and nonchalant sexism all along.

In a society where the idea of trophy wives is still prevalent among certain circles, it is not strange that the presence of women is considered to be necessary just to beautify the game. Our ideas about women and cricket sadly do not go beyond beautiful presenters and hot cheerleaders.

Our clouded judgements will not let us see that Meg Lanning's square drives were as good to watch as Virat Kohli's in the World T20 2016. Instead, what is important for us is that she is pretty - it is her looks and not her square drives that sadly become the defining criterion. Casual propositions have even been thrown around that women cricketers should dress up better and apply some make-up to attract more viewership.

From cutting down on the number of Tests to drawing in the boundary ropes, the game of cricket is governed by parochial beliefs that women are never strong enough to meet the physically demanding nature of the game. If women's cricket ever received the kind of investment that men's cricket did, the viewership and attraction would be sure to follow.

The way forward

That is where the IPL has to lead the way and coax investors to come forward. Some positive steps have been taken with holding ICC tournaments for women being organised simultaneously with men. Franchise-based T20 cricket has to be the next step as this is the most lucrative format that drives the game now.

The inaugural edition of the Women's Big Bash League was a runaway success enjoying unprecedented viewership and quelling the myth that women's cricket is uninteresting. The WBBL attracted a peak in-house crowd of 14,611 and a peak audience of 439,000 television viewers. Cricket Australia played its part having subsidised the production costs and Network 10 and Channel 9 in turn, promoted the coverage on their main channels.

The WBBL made the Meg Lannings and Ellyse Perrys household names alongside Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting in Australia. Players like Lisa Sthalekar came out of retirement. The remuneration was handsome with players earning as much as US$40,000 for their services. The WBBL which was hailed as a watershed moment in the history of the game, in fact, had better television ratings than a few established male sports.

The best women cricketers of this generation have expressed hope and optimism that IPL will follow in the footsteps of the WBBL. "We would really like to see an IPL and even Indian players playing in the Super League and WBBL. It will be great for our game. You have seen what IPL has done for the men's game, it will be fantastic for women's cricket if it happens," said England women's team captain Charlotte Edwards.

Expressing her love for the shortest format of the game, Lanning said, "It creates a great atmosphere and people want to watch it. T20 has been the vehicle of women's cricket for the last few years. We love playing Tests when we get a chance and we love playing more. There's no doubt T20 is the way forward for the women's game."

One of the most enduring images from the World T20 2016 was the West Indies women cricketers celebrating with the men after the final. Curtly Ambrose held up three fingers in celebration acknowledging the contribution of the youth and women's teams. It was indeed a beautiful moment.

The situation is changing fast and cricket boards the world over are waking up to the injustice that has been perpetrated on women cricketers for so long. For far too long, women have been at the periphery of this exclusively masculinist space, adorning the egos of male cricketers as beautiful WAGs and presenters. Now it's time for them to be acknowledged for their own superlative performances. They now want to be at the centre of the praise and adulation with a cricket bat and a ball in their hands.

To be in denial of the abilities of women cricketers any longer will be a grave mistake. History will not forgive such a faux pas. And the IPL can choose to ignore these developments at its own peril.