Harmanpreet Kaur on WPL impact: Domestic players will get more opportunities

The India and Mumbai Indians captain said that Indian cricket will reap the benefits of the WPL, just like Australia did after the Women’s Big Bash League.

Meg Lanning and Harmanpreet Kaur during the press conference ahead of the WPL final on Saturday. | Photo Credit: PTI

Harmanpreet Kaur believes that the Indian domestic cricketers will reap the benefits of the Women’s Premier League in the next couple of years. Like many of her teammates, Harmanpreet has always batted for an IPL-like tournament for women cricketers and now that the inaugural edition of the league has reached its last leg, the India captain is optimistic.

“WBBL played a big role in development of cricket in their country, and the WPL is also going to have a same role for our cricket. The domestic players are going to get a lot of opportunities, many girls have done well as we have seen. We will start seeing the results in 2-3 years. I am confident that Indian talent is also going to do well like Australia are doing,” Harmanpreet said on the eve of the final against Delhi Capitals.

She wants Mumbai Indians to excel in every department in the summit clash on Sunday. “We have many leaders in the camp, people who have captained their team and also been vice-captains. Some of the Indian players like Amanjot (Kaur) did well in South Africa. This makes for a great team environment,” she said.

Under her captaincy, Mumbai Indians started off perfectly - winning the first five games. However, two consecutive defeats meant it had to play the Eliminator against UP Warriorz to earn a ticket to the final.

And after decimating the Warriorz on Friday, Harmanpreet is looking forward to an exciting final. “Both teams have got pretty good bowling and batting lineups. You will have to do really well to win, we have not thought it that way. We want to come in and play our best game with both, the bat and the ball, and fielding as well which has played a big role in this tournament. I think teams that have done that well have been successful…”

Before the WPL got underway, the BCCI decided to keep boundary distance for each game to a maximum of 60 metres - a decision that raised eyebrows. But Harmanpreet ducked the question , saying “ Hum logo ne thodi na rope lagaya hai. Jinhone rope lagaya hai aap unko poocho na… (It is not in our hands, it is in the hands of the officials. You need to ask them)”