Talent pool will deepen: Sunetra Paranjpe and other women ex-cricketers on WPL

Indian cricket opened a new chapter with the inaugural Womenrsquos Premier League WPL beginning in Mumbai on March 4 The matches will be played at Navi Mumbairsquos DY Patil Stadium and Cricket Club of India CCI Churchgatersquos Brabourne Stadium with the final in SoBo on March 26Five franchises snapped up players in a recent lights camera action auction with some media research firms stating that the league is the worldrsquos second highest league behind the Womenrsquos National Basketball Association WNBA in the USAGood domestic poolFormer cricketer Sunetra Paranjpe said ldquoThis comes on the heels of our rousing U19 World Cup win We also have a very good pool of domestic players right now This will deepen that poolrdquoSunetra Paranjpe Silloo Medhora Anjali Pendharkar and Surekha BhandareWhen Paranjpe was asked about some trepidation over spectator seats being filled she said ldquoWhen the Australia womenrsquos team played against India at the DY Patil Stadium we saw approximately 30000 seats full up Today spectators want to see keen competition that is what is the big drawrdquoBetter times aheadSilloo Medhora who played in the 1970s said ldquothe game has truly turned the corner and this augurs for even better times aheadrdquo For the former player ldquoher playing erardquo and ldquotoday cannot be comparedrdquoShe said ldquoWe went through hell There was hardly any cricket no competition nothingrdquo Medhora cautioned though that ldquothis money is welldeserved but should not go to the young womenrsquos heads We do see some of that in the Indian Premier League IPL where some youngsters want to play IPL and not for India The most stirring moment is when the India cap is atop that headrdquo she endedAlso Read Womens Premier League Mumbai Indians to face Gujarat Giants in WPL opener on March 4Social changeThen there is Shiv Chhatrapati Puraskar recipient Anjali Pendharkar who looked at a much broader perspective ldquoI see this auction affecting sportswomen in other sports and in a much broader way our society too Women still get the shorter end of the stick and that bias starts at homeldquoIn certain families if a boy wants to play cricket equipment is provided quickly When a girl announces she wants to play there is hesitation At times there is borderline discouragement This has lessened but not completely eliminated When families see that their daughters can earn well through this game there will be much more encouragementrdquoPendharkar dismissed doubts about crowds ldquoLook at the Ranji Trophyrdquo the cricketer countered ldquoDo you see huge crowds at that tourney There is a change in how we consume sport With telecast reach highlights on the device crowds at the stadium will not matter as much as the womenrsquos game will penetrate households through televisionrdquolsquoSo much for them to learnrsquoFor Mumbairsquos Surekha Bhandare a former medium pacer ldquoThe WPL is hugely beneficial given the money exposure and avenues it opens up I am thinking of the girls young players who will be in the stands not even in the franchise teamsldquoThere will be so much for them to learn from the foreign players in the franchises too Our fielding is improving but I think we will have some takeaways from fitness standardsrdquo stated Bhandare who played from 1974 to 1989 and has also been a coach