A T20 World Cup unlike others

With WPL auctions looming, Australia seek record sixth title and India their maiden hurray

The last time a Women’s T20 World Cup was held, India and Australia played the final in front of a record MCG crowd of 86,174 on Women’s Day—March 8. The world came to a standstill right after that. Not much has changed since then, although a lot has. With five trophies out of seven editions, Australia still are the team to beat. Since that World Cup win, Australia have lost just two out of 27 T20Is.

Harmanpreet Kaur( in blue jersey) (Twitter)

But the world is expanding as well. With men’s cricket starting to hit saturation levels, women’s cricket is rapidly gaining a foothold with an uptick in overall viewership and the emergence of franchise leagues, all while the world was readjusting itself to the new normal the pandemic brought upon us.

This meant not just more eyeballs for women’s cricket but also better franchise deals, spurred by The Hundred in the UK and the Women’s Big Bash in Australia. According to the third women’s professional cricket global employment record by FICA published recently, opportunities to earn from international cricket have grown by 75% since 2020. It also predicted a 30% increase in T20 league earnings.

India is at the centre of this resurgence, finally giving its women’s cricketers equal pay for international matches and formulating a Women’s Premier League where six franchises were sold for ₹4670 crore.

With the Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup in the bag and the WPL finally up and running, there is no better time to make a consolidated pitch for India as the next superpower in women’s cricket. There is also no denying the already eerie similarity with the 2007 T20 World Cup. Also held in South Africa, India won that tournament before unleashing upon us the spectacle of the IPL. Will the women’s narrative too follow a similar trajectory?

Never ever have the anticipation levels of the Women's World Cup reached this level of crescendo. It’s partly because of the almost level playing field. Australia are not unbeatable, England and New Zealand are always a consistent threat, India have come up the ranks and how, South Africa too have emerged as strong contenders after defeating India in the tri-series final. Australia have never played a T20I in South Africa, something captain Meg Lanning is mindful of. "It may be my fifth ICC Women's T20 World Cup, but trust me, the excitement bubbling under the surface in the lead up never goes away,” said Lanning recently. “For one, it will be the first time I and most of the squad have been to South Africa, and while we can't wait to drink in the culture, we still have a job to do."

Another reason behind the surge in interest is the proximity of the WPL auction, scheduled to be held the day after the India-Pakistan clash. By then, nine of the 10 teams will have played their opening round matches but the focus no doubt will firmly be on the Indians. Harmanpreet Kaur is aware of the pressure and anxiety a first-time auction can trigger.

"The World Cup is more important than anything else," said the India captain in the lead-up to the World Cup. "Our focus is on the ICC trophy. These things will keep coming, and as a player, you know what's important for you and how you need to keep your focus. We are all mature enough and know what is important for us."

At the same time, she didn’t forget to mention its importance.

"It's a really big day for all of us because we have been waiting for years and years now. We have seen how the WBBL and the Hundred have helped their countries improve their cricket. Hopefully, the same will happen for our country." England skipper Heather Knight is also confident of its impact. “I think in the women's game you can have a really nice dynamic between the franchise leagues and international cricket. International cricket needs a bit of help to be able to do that but it's a hugely exciting time.”

Notwithstanding the rapid strides the women’s game has made, there are thousands of things that warrant a fresh approach or improvement. But women’s cricket is at its crossroads. And possibly for the first time in its not-so-short history has it been able to stand out as a separate identity, independent of the affluence men’s cricket wields. It always had the characters, but now it has the right backing—more bilateral tours, more ICC tournaments and more franchise leagues all rolled into one firm step forward. Irrespective of who wins, this T20 World Cup will only add to that momentum.