Indian women’s cricket team skipper Harmanpreet Kaur feels the domestic structure needs to be improved in order to get success at the highest level. The Women in Blue has reached the final and semi-finals on a consistent basis in the last few years, but has failed to win the competition, the latest being the Commonwealth Games 2022 (CWG 2022) where they went down against Australia in the gold medal match.
Harmanpreet & Co.’s both defeats in the competition came against Australia, a team who has dominated world cricket in the last decade. The Indian captain believes the upcoming women’s IPL will help bridge the vast gap between domestic and international cricket.
During an interaction on the Sports 18 show ‘Sports Over the Top’, Harmanpreet Kaur expressed her excitement with the upcoming Women’s IPL. When asked about the same, she replied:
“Yes, definitely, I think that is a great platform where domestic players can perform and get that experience. The only thing I personally feel we are lacking is that because our domestic level is not that great and suddenly you are coming to the Indian team and then you feel a lot of pressure.”
Harmanpreet Kaur pointed out that domestic players will gain immensely by rubbing shoulders with the best in the world.
“I feel if we get women’s IPL, then our domestic players will also get a chance to play with overseas players and that experience will definitely help us when some youngster, who is coming to the team, will not feel that pressure which eventually they feel when they come and play international games,” she added.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is looking to stage the inaugural edition of the women’s IPL in March 2023.
“Really happy with the way we performed” – Harmanpreet Kaur on India’s performance in CWG 2022
Apart from the two defeats, India thrashed other sides, including hosts England in the semi-finals. Harmanpreet Kaur was happy with how the girls played throughout the tournament.
“It was a great experience for all of us because we were participating for the first time and we got a great platform to perform. I am really happy with the way we performed because before leaving for the Commonwealth Games we decided to play dominating cricket and the team did a really great job,” she concluded.
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