MPW 2022: 'WPL will change the perception of women’s cricket,' says Jhulan Goswami

Former Team India cricketer and bowling legend Jhulan Goswami doffed her hat to the just-concluded Women’s Premier League (WPL), which incidentally, her franchise Mumbai Indians went on to win this year. “WPL will change the perception of women's cricket. Our cricketers are sharing the dressing room with all quality cricketers from the world, and this will only benefit Indian cricket. We should cherish that we have a platform like this today,” she said.

Goswami was speaking at Business Today’s annual ‘Most Powerful Women in Business’ event in Mumbai on Wednesday. Also, in attendance were Jemimah Rodrigues and Harleen Deol, star batters of the current Indian team. Both agreed that cricket is no longer just a gentleman's game. “It’s everyone’s game. And we’re coming for it,” quipped Deol.

Goswami, part of the earlier generation of Indian cricketers who put the women’s game on the world map, went on to share that a 'women’s IPL' was always talked of in dressing rooms over the years. “We would always discuss that WPL should happen, and we should get more money, more facilities. But this generation didn't think that WPL would happen so soon in their career,” she revealed. “Earlier, women's cricket had minimum visibility. But that mindset is changing slowly. People have started enjoying and believing in women's cricket now,” she added.

Rodrigues, who starred in the inaugural WPL final as part of the Delhi Capitals unit, went on to acknowledge the former generation for paving the way for the current crop of women cricketers. “The previous generation did it without the fame, the money, and the social media. We are enjoying the fruits of labour of the Jhulan Goswamis and the Mithali Rajs,” she said.

She also spoke of the success of WPL, including the sold-out stadiums, the social media buzz, and finally, the joy of seeing an Indian cricketer lift the first-ever WPL trophy. “I was sad that we lost [to Mumbai Indians], but to see Harry Di [Harmanpreet Kaur] lift the trophy was a victory for women's cricket in India,” Rodrigues shared.

Goswami further added that the WPL win means a lot more to Kaur, who’s also Team India captain, and has been at the receiving end of Meg Lanning’s Australian team on a number of occasions in the recent past. “Harman was trying to avoid all the talk about Meg Lanning’s team beating her team [leading up to the final]. The WPL win will give her a lot of confidence; it has shown that she can beat Meg Lanning’s team too,” she stated.

Besides the emotions, WPL also became a ratings hit. Official streaming partner JioCinema announced that the tournament clocked an average of 50 minutes per user per match, and 10 million new users tuned in for the final on March 26. “Our vision is to nurture the TATA WPL into the biggest women’s sporting league in the world, and this is a big leap in that direction. To see it already on its way to becoming the largest viewed sports event in the world in the first season is a remarkable feat and testament to the potential,” Viacom18 Sports CEO Anil Jayaraj said in a statement.