How these awesome changes will make the WPL more exciting?

March 2023 was a remarkable month in the history of women’s cricket in India.

It’s been almost a month since the BCCI kicked off the much-awaited Women’s Premier League (WPL) in India. And the WPL will surely change the landscape of women’s cricket globally.

2 venues. 5 teams. 22 matches. 87 players. And an exciting inaugural WPL season.

What a thriller of a tournament that was! But there are a few things that need to be changed in the next season.

Let’s take a look at them.

Home and Away format

The IPL has started, and this year the home-and-away format has made its comeback after almost 3 seasons. And the feeling of playing in front of your home crowd can be different, which was probably missing in the WPL.

The whole league was played across 2 venues — DY Patil Stadium and Brabourne Stadium, CCI — in Navi Mumbai and Mumbai.

Now the BCCI must have their reasons (logistical) for hosting the whole league at 2 venues, as things — from the league announcement to the first match — happened over 3–4 months.

But hopefully next season, the WPL will be played in a home-and-away format.

Just imagine the Chinnaswamy crowd cheering for the Royal Challengers, the Kotla crowd roaring for the Capitals, the Ekana crowd backing their Warriorz, and the Giants fans supporting them in the biggest stadium in the world — Narendra Modi Stadium. Wouldn’t that be great?

Also, it will help the teams build their fan bases.

Three teams — Delhi Capitals (DC), Mumbai Indians (MI), and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) — already have their fanbases as they are owned by existing IPL franchises.

The other two teams — Uttar Pradesh Warriorz (UPW) and Gujarat Giants (GG) — though, have a huge task building their fan bases from scratch. Now the home-and-away format will eventually help them build their fan base.

However, there is one concern.

The home-and-away format can be a little taxing on the teams with continuous travel between cities. To avoid a hectic schedule, the league can have break days between some matches.

As per the latest development, the BCCI has discussed staging the WPL in the home-and-away format from the next season. Now it remains to see how things pan out.

Do away with the shorter boundaries

According to the ICC’s playing conditions for women’s T20I, the boundary should not be shorter than 60 yards (54.86 metres) and the boundary should not be longer than 70 yards (64 metres) from the centre of the pitch.

But the boundaries at both venues were shorter, especially the leg side boundary (from the batting crease).

The boundaries were pulled in by approximately 5 metres, as mentioned in the WPL’s playing conditions. The boundary should not be shorter than 55 yards (50.29 metres) and the boundary should not be longer than 65 yards (59.43 metres) from the centre of the pitch.

But this needs a relook as some miss-hits also went over the rope and batters were able to hit boundaries with ease.

The batters have also shown that they can hit big sixes. RCB opener Sophie Devine smashed the longest six (94 metres) of the WPL at CCI. I was just amazed!

If the boundaries are pulled back by 5–6 metres, it will ensure a level playing field for both batters and bowlers.

More chances for uncapped players

So the main aim of the WPL is to give a platform to domestic Indian players to showcase their talent. And we got to see some incredible performances from players like Saika Ishaque, Shreyanka Patil, Kanika Ahuja, and Parshavi Chopra.

Teams need to include such players in their playing XI, and don’t just include them; let them do what they are best at.

Put the players in tough situations to give them a glimpse of international cricket. The coaches and international players will share important tips to improve their performances.

The more chances they get, the better they will become. This will help in unearthing some match-winners for India.

League expansion

Now, this won’t happen immediately, but it will surely happen over the next 2–3 years.

The BCCI needs to introduce 2–3 new teams with more matches. This will, of course, create more opportunities for players across the globe. And more matches mean more chances to improve and showcase their talent.

I hope the BCCI at least introduces one more team, preferably one from the existing IPL franchises.

Conclusion

The WPL, launched on the sidelines of the IPL, is interesting, but a few tweaks here and there will definitely make it more exciting.

More fans coming to the stadium and cheering for their favourite teams, getting to witness thrilling matches, and players being recognised for their hard work will be the icing on the cake.

What do you think about these changes? Comment below.