'WPL will set a template, revolutionise way we look women's cricket'

MUMBAI: Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah said on Tuesday the Women's Premier League will set a template for other sports to follow suit, just like it happened with men's Indian Premier League and it will revolutionise the way people look at women's cricket.

The auction for the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) edition was conducted successfully on Monday.

"The WPL is going to revolutionise the way we look at women's cricket. The huge success of the WPL auction has not only given an opportunity to many prospective talent to showcase their skills on the big stage but also to young budding cricketers to take centerstage on a global level.

The reception from fans around the world has been overwhelmingly positive and this will only continue to grow as the league matures.

The WPL will set a template for other sports to follow suit. We saw what happened with the men's IPL and how other sporting leagues cropped up after 2008.

The WPL will ensure the growth of multi-genre sport among women," Shah told ANI. Shah said that WPL was created not only as a platform for women in India and across the world to showcase and hone their cricket, but also to inspire the next generation of women to make professional sports a career option.

"Without a ball being bowled, the WPL is the largest sporting league. With women's cricket well on its way to cement itself in mainstream sports, the WPL will only fortify the ecosystem around women's cricket.

The initial response to the WPL has definitely showcased the potential the league has to become the biggest women's domestic sporting tournament," added Shah.

The inaugural edition of WPL will be played in Mumbai from March 4 to 26 across two Mumbai venues and the player auction for the same will be held on February 13.

A total of 1,525 players registered for the inaugural WPL auction and the final list was pruned to 409 players.

The five franchises -- Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Delhi Capitals --were acquired by the owners of the three IPL teams along with Adani Group and Capri Global for a total of INR 4669.99 crore (about USD 572.78 million).

This represents the largest deal ever made in women's cricket. The successful bidders were announced on January 25.

Here are all the updated squads of WPL teams: Delhi Capitals: Jemimah Rodrigues, Meg Lanning, Shafali Verma, Radha Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Marizanne Kapp, Titas Sadhu, Alice Capsey, Tara Norris, Laura Harris, Jasia Akhtar, Minnu Mani, Poonam Yadav, Taniya Bhatia. Jess Jonassen, Sneha Deepthi, Arundhati Reddy, Aparna Mondal. Gujarat Giants: Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney, Sophia Dunkley, Annabel Sutherland, Harleen Deol, Deandra Dottin, Sneh Rana, S Meghana, Georgia Wareham, Mansi Joshi, Dayalan Hemalatha, Monica Patel, Tanuja Kanwer, Sushma Verma, Hurley Gala, Ashwani Kumari, Parunika Sisodia, Shabman Shakil.

Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Yastika Bhatia, Heather Graham, Issy Wong, Amanjot Kaur, Dhara Gujjar, Saika Ishaque, Hayley Matthews, Chloe Tryon, Priyanka Bala, Humairaa Kaazi, Neelam Bisht, Jintamani Kalita, Sonam Yadav. Royal Challengers Bangalore: Smriti Mandhana, Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, Indrani Roy, Disha Kasat, Shreyanka Patil, Kanika Ahuja, Asha Shobhana, Erin Burns, Heather Knight, Dane van Niekerk, Preeti Bose, Poonam Khemnar, Komal Zanzad, Megan Schutt, Sahana Pawar. UP Warriorz: Sophie Ecclestone, Deepti Sharma, Tahlia McGrath, Shabnim Ismail, Alyssa Healy, Anjali Sarvani, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Parshavi Chopra, Shweta Sehrawat, S Yashasri, Kiran Navgire, Grace Harris, Devika Vaidya, Lauren Bell, Laxmi Yadav, Simran Shaikh.