WPL 2023 concludes with promise of changing Indian cricket for better

The Womens Premier League made a captivating debut and promised a bright future for the aspiring female cricketers in India but the hurriedly organised first season also left a lot of scope for improvement going forwardThe WPL played entirely across two venues in Mumbai witnessed special performances from some of the best cricketers in the world but leaving aside leftarm spinner Saika Ishaque did not unearth a plethora of local talent like it was expected toThe fiveteam competition culminated on Sunday with Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur finally leading her side across the line in the summit clash against a team captained by Australian legend Meg LanningThe tournament began with plenty of scores over 200 with boundaries as short as 4244 metres but pitches tired out eventually and became spinfriendlyMumbais Hayley Matthews won the Purple Cap for her 16 wickets iquest including four in the final iquest but Nat SciverBrunt was the overall top performer with 10 wickets and 332 runsAlso ReadWPL 2023 Oh MI Champs you made historyApart from Mumbai Indians Ishaque who took 15 wickets Shreyanka Patil and Kanika Ahuja of Royal Challengers Bangalore made their mark on the big stage but there was a clear gap between those from the Indian domestic circuit and the worlds bestWhile Patil lit up the field with her energy and enthusiasm 20yearold Ahuja showed tremendous promise at a young age with her explosive battingHarmanpreet acknowledged that littleknown Indian players did not get many roles and opportunities to play but added value to their teams with their fielding citing the examples of MIs Amanjot Kaur and Jintimani KalitaThe Indian skipper hoped that young and uncapped Indian players would emerge wiser from the experience knowing what they need to do in order to bridge the gapDelhis head coach Jonathan Batty left with the message challenging young Indian players to work on their game and fitness for season twoWhile Mumbai Indians achieved the high of recording five consecutive wins en route to the title triumph a team led by another Indian star Smriti Mandhanas Royal Challengers Bangalore endured a fivegame losing streak when the competition got underway and the tournament ended for them even before it beganMandhana admitted facing difficulties handling a team full of players with bigger stature and more experience than herHer own form with the bat failed to inspire RCB who also had the likes of Ellyse Perry Heather Knight Sophie Devine Megan Schutt and Renuka Singh to name a fewNo doubt Mandhana a leadership prospect with the Indian team will emerge better from her first WPL stint as captain and player but it remains to be seen how the team responds after a horrendous first seasonLannings Delhi Capitals did not instill fear in the opposition as Harmanpreets MI did but the Australian Lanning led from the front and ended as the tournaments leading rungetterBut if Lanning was consistent with the bat at the top Shafali Verma blowing hot and cold remained an issue which Delhi Capitals could not do much aboutIf RCB had to bear with Mandhanas poor run with the bat Delhi Capitals experienced the same with their vicecaptain Jemimah Rodrigues The righthanded batter failed to score even a fifty but entertained the crowd with her athleticism in the field taking some stunning catchesGujarat Giants began with losing their preferred captain Beth Mooney halfway into the first game and endured a largely disappointing campaign but Deols contributions mixed with Ashleigh Gardners prowess give them hope for the future Sneh Rana did her best as standin captain but overall GG were not good enough to advance to the knockoutsAlyssa Healys UP Warriorz got outplayed in the Eliminator by Mumbai Indians but they were the first side to beat the eventual winners and showed a lot of promise with Navgire Grace Harris Anjali Sarvani and Sophie Ecclestone iquest who took joint highest 16 wickets in their ranksThe 22game competition spread over as many days this March was held entirely in Mumbai and like many both Healy and Ecclestone also wished for home and away games from next season onwardsIt remains to be seen if the BCCI decides to organise the next WPL in the homeaway format like the Indian Premier League as crowd support plays a big part in the success of teams and also helps in creating a much needed fan baseThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever