Australia wicketkeeper-batter Alyssa Healy on Wednesday expressed her elation over the possibility of a full-fledged Women's Indian Premier League (IPL) happening next year and added that the league will make India an unbeatable side in 10 years' time.
In the previous week, at the IPL Governing Council meeting, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) proposed the creation of a six-team women's IPL from 2023. For the current year, the three-team women's T20 Challenge will happen.
"I think the announcement for those competitions is pretty great. I mean, it's exactly where we thought that the women's game needed to go, that (women's IPL) was like the next step. I mean, we've had a really successful WBBL. So it went really well, now into the Hundred, there's sort of some thriving domestic competition, so to see the announcement of the IPL in particular to be able to grow the game in India is unbelievable," said Healy in the post-match virtual press conference after Australia beat West Indies to reach the final of ICC Women's Cricket World Cup.
Talking about how the creation of women's IPL will help the Indian cricketers, Healy, who featured for Trailblazers in Women's T20 Challenge in 2018, remarked, "It's such an untapped market I feel in the women's game. With so many people surely, they're going to be unbeatable in sort of a 10-year time. They just really needed a sort of a leg up in that domestic setup to I guess, showcase what these amazing women can do. So yeah, it's really exciting."
With the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL), The Hundred and now the upcoming women's Caribbean Premier League (CPL) taking space in women's cricket calendar, scheduling will bring challenges, of which Healy is fully aware of.
"It (women's IPL) was the next step and the scheduling is going to come into play. Obviously, what that looks like I'm not 100 per cent certain but we're going to have to work it out. Whether or not international players are going to be available for all the domestic competitions, with an increase in international cricket or whether there's a focus on these domestic leagues, I'm not 100 per cent certain."
"But for first and foremost, it's just great to see them being spoken about hopefully see them get off the ground and if they want a 32- to 33-year-old opening better that can chirp a little bit behind the stumps. I'm available," concluded Healy.
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