There’s been quite a buzz around the Women’s Premier League which got underway last weekend when Mumbai Indians took on Gujarat Giants in the inaugural fixture. While MI dominated the match, an interesting turn of events left an impression.
It was MI captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s decision to use DRS to overturn a wide ball called by the on-field umpire. So far, DRS has only been used to appeal against an on-field decision in cases of dismissal but WPL has allowed any each team to review any call barring leg-bye and timed out.
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The catch is that all such appeals are part of the two unsuccessful reviews that a team is allowed per innings. However, there have been concerns if the flow of game will be impacted and its efficacy in case of close calls.
Former India cricketer Parthiv Patel isn’t concerned and thinks the right decisions should take precedence even if it ends up disturbing the match flow.
“As cricketers, at the end of the day, you want right decisions to be made,” WPL expert, Sport18 and JioCinema Parthiv Patel told News18 during an interaction.
He added, “Umpires are there but they are humans and can make a mistake. Yes, the flow of the game gets slightly affected but at the end of the day, you want to take a right decision. One wide ball or no ball can actually make a difference in the result. I’m okay with this. If you are gutsy enough as a captain to take a call on wide/no ball, you should go ahead and do it. I’m quite okay with it.”
Patel thinks that the manner in which the Indian women’s cricket team has fared at the international level in recent years made WPL inevitable while adding it’s about time the players get their due.
“It’s great to have Women’s Premier League. Our female cricketers deserve this if you look at the 5-7 years, the way Indian female cricketers have played and performed at the highest level,” Patel said.
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“We all know the Australian team, at this time, is the most dangerous team, it looks like invincible but only Indian team has come close to beating them in world events. They all have performed really well. It’s about time they get their due and it looks great. I’ve been part of it for three days. The vibe on and off the field is great. The way BCCI held the opening ceremony was phenomenal. I don’t like to compare things but it’s at par with how IPL has been conducted,” he added.
Interestingly, unlike IPL, WPL is being held entirely in Mumbai with all matches to be held across two stadiums. The short window may have been a reason why the home-and-away format hasn’t been introduced but Patel thinks that in future it will be the case.
“BCCI has done really well to start this tournament in one city. There’s less time, lesser traveling. (If in different cities) You won’t be able to play back-to-back games. To start with, you have to get a hang of it. I don’t have any doubts that going ahead in the future, if not next year but at some point of time, we will have home and away (fixtures). So that’s not a concern. Don’t think BCCI has missed a trick here,” Patel said.
Mumbai Indians have made a strong start to WPL 2023 with big wins over Gujarat Giants and Royal Challengers Bangalore but Patel thinks it’s too early to pick a tournament favourite.
“It’s only a five-team tournament and we have seen before (underperforming) teams can make comeback. On paper, it appears all five teams are very well balanced and have the resources to win the tournament. I’m not just being diplomatic here. Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals have started really well. RCB has the names in their sides, they can make a comeback. (In) Gujarat there’s an opportunity for a lot of Indian players to make a name. It’s still early days. Once we reach halfway stage, we will get to know which team could go on to play the final,” he said.
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