The newly formed WPL Committee formed by the BCCI has come as a shock to the Indian women’s cricketing fraternity.
New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced the distinguished committee members who will play a pivotal role in steering the Women’s Premier League (WPL) towards new heights. The committee as BCCI stated will be bringing a wealth of experience, passion for women’s sports, and a shared commitment to promoting excellence in women’s cricket.
The committee will be headed by BCCI President Roger Binny and BCCI secretary Jay Shah has been named as the convenor. Other members of the committee include Arun Dhumal (IPL chairperson), Rajeev Shukla (BCCI vice-president), Ashish Shelar (BCCI treasurer), Devajit Saikia (BCCI joint secretary), Madhumati Lele and Prabhtej Bhatia.
Out of all the members included in the committee, there is only one female member and likes of Indian legends in Diana Edulji and Shantha Rangaswamy have been overlooked. Reacting to it, former India captain Anjum Chopra was surprised by the decision and she expects that there should be some sort of inclusivity.
”Yes it was surprising. In a Women’s Premier League, you would want a little more of inclusivity. It is not that the ones who are not there are not good, thing is you need that inclusivity. It was surprising, it did raise eyebrows.”, Chopra told to India.com in an exclusive interaction.
Edulji was the Committee of Administrators (CoA) back in 2018 and played a crucial part in organising the one-off Women’s T20 Challenger, the first IPL-style Women’s tournament. It was only this year, the WPL came into existence. It is obviously surprising the obvious big names of the women’s game are ignored from the WPL administration.
The WPL Auction will take place on December 9 in Mumbai. A total of 165 players will go under the hammer during the 2nd auction of the league.