Star Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma has joined the chorus of cricket players who are anticipating the debut of the Women’s Premier League. When discussing her excitement about Viacom 18, she remarked, “Obviously, I am really excited because from the past few years, it was going to start and now that it has, I am really excited and cannot express my happiness in words. I am so excited that I cannot wait for the league to kickstart and play in the maiden match of the inaugural league.”
When questioned about how participating in such intense competitions will help her personal game, she added, “Definitely I played world cup, so I really like to take on pressure situations in all the departments be it batting, bowling or contributing with good fielding.”
She also thinks that her ability to handle pressure in the past helped shape her into the player she is now and makes it easier for her to adjust to new situations. The players will realise the genuine pressure cooker circumstances in recent World Cups, when India has suffered heart-breaking losses, and playing more of these matches will help lessen the pressure even in multination events like those. Being calm and composed will significantly assist.
Considering how all-rounders function in the Women’s Premier League, she opined, “Every team has an all-rounder and the all-rounder’s role is in three departments. Wherever team needs and they will score from batting, bowling or fielding. All-rounder’s impact is something different from other players so I think whatever role an all-rounder is getting that will be really essential for the IPL.”
Speaking more specifically about how the WPL will affect young girls, she said, “Everyone wants to play in a tournament like the WPL” because it offers a huge stage. She drew comparisons to the men’s IPL, which has given many aspiring cricketers who went on to make it big a springboard and is a significant opportunity for the domestic players to make a statement for themselves and showcase their talent. She believes that new and unproven domestic players may capitalise on a platform like this to their advantage and utilise it to make a case for themselves to join the national squad.
Finally, she addressed her fans with the following message: “Keep supporting and do watch (the WPL) wherever you are.” She concluded by emphasising the importance of supporting any team of your choosing and the importance of supporting women’s cricket in general. Let’s also take advantage of the inaugural WPL, which will undoubtedly capture the nation’s attention unlike anything else.
For Jemimah Rodrigues on the other hand, this WPL is a “dream come true for every girl playing sport”. She quoted, “This was something we were hoping for a very long time, and this is maybe one thing we need that can change things for women’s cricket in India. Because you never know who can come out from small-small cities like you (have) seen as it happened in the men’s IPL. There are players who haven’t played Ranji Trophy and now they are playing (for) India. Imagine how much bench-strength we are going to have.” She also made it clear how excited everyone is and hopefully it is going to be massive full of excitement.
Commenting how WPL will elevate cricket in India, she noted, “I think Women’s IPL will definitely change a lot for women’s cricket in India because practice makes you perfect, so it is the same thing. Just imagine at a higher stage when overseas players with top Indian cricketers coming there, playing together, what kind of matches will be having, some will go down the wire, some will be like from nowhere you will just make a match out.” She remarked about playing under pressure and nurturing every bit of cricket inside which is going to raise the standards of cricket along with learning at the same time.
Expressing her excitement about the inaugural WPL Auction, she commented, “The interesting story is that we have always watched men’s IPL and how the auctions are, everyone is bidding for one player, this and then, so I was always very glued to it like it’s very exciting and there are few of those guys we practiced together just to see them going to maybe Chennai Super Kings, it’s a very proud feeling. We always imagined what it would like to be for us to experience that kind of a moment. I haven’t experienced it yet, but when it happens it is going to be special because it’s the first edition of the Women’s IPL.
She shared how ignorant and unaware she was of Women’s Cricket and Indian Women’s Cricket in special as she didn’t have the same opportunity, but it would really impact the women’s sport in India when something like this would be going live at such a large scale. “I am just planning to go with the flow and enjoy every moment over here,” a delighted Jemimah said, “because it’s going to be exciting, fun but it’s (also) going top be competitive. It’s going to be nail-biting finishes.”
“It’s not the players that have got women’s cricket to a whole new level in India, it’s actually the fans and their support for us throughout these years especially while playing in the world cups or Commonwealth, the kind of love and support we have got from our fans, I think we are blessed to have such people and such support,” Jemimah concluded.
Next was Harleen Deol to express her excitement for the first ever WPL and how it’s going to change the outlook for Women’s Cricket, “We are very excited for it; we have been waiting for it for a long time, so we are really looking forward to it. (In WPL) more exposure will be there and the elite players from all across the world will come and we’ll get to learn a lot of things so it will be a game-changer for the Indian (cricket) culture.”
Talking about the enhancement of the individual game, she remarked, “I love handling pressure. I get more excited when the situation is more tough so I feel like you can concentrate more when you are in a pressure situation.” She seconded the fact that since there will be players who known each other’s game, so a funny banter is possible.
She also shared a vivid message for her fellow players where she said, “Since we enjoy each other, so I would like to say that be in the moment and just enjoy whatever (comes) because you’ve been working hard for all to express yourself over there. At times things are not your way but eventually it comes, just enjoy your moment and enjoy your life that’s what I want to say because these moments will never come back so instead of regretting just be happy and enjoy.”
When questioned about how participating in such intense competitions will help her personal game, she added, “Definitely I played world cup, so I really like to take on pressure situations in all the departments be it batting, bowling or contributing with good fielding.”
She also thinks that her ability to handle pressure in the past helped shape her into the player she is now and makes it easier for her to adjust to new situations. The players will realise the genuine pressure cooker circumstances in recent World Cups, when India has suffered heart-breaking losses, and playing more of these matches will help lessen the pressure even in multination events like those. Being calm and composed will significantly assist.
Considering how all-rounders function in the Women’s Premier League, she opined, “Every team has an all-rounder and the all-rounder’s role is in three departments. Wherever team needs and they will score from batting, bowling or fielding. All-rounder’s impact is something different from other players so I think whatever role an all-rounder is getting that will be really essential for the IPL.”
Speaking more specifically about how the WPL will affect young girls, she said, “Everyone wants to play in a tournament like the WPL” because it offers a huge stage. She drew comparisons to the men’s IPL, which has given many aspiring cricketers who went on to make it big a springboard and is a significant opportunity for the domestic players to make a statement for themselves and showcase their talent. She believes that new and unproven domestic players may capitalise on a platform like this to their advantage and utilise it to make a case for themselves to join the national squad.
Finally, she addressed her fans with the following message: “Keep supporting and do watch (the WPL) wherever you are.” She concluded by emphasising the importance of supporting any team of your choosing and the importance of supporting women’s cricket in general. Let’s also take advantage of the inaugural WPL, which will undoubtedly capture the nation’s attention unlike anything else.
For Jemimah Rodrigues on the other hand, this WPL is a “dream come true for every girl playing sport”. She quoted, “This was something we were hoping for a very long time, and this is maybe one thing we need that can change things for women’s cricket in India. Because you never know who can come out from small-small cities like you (have) seen as it happened in the men’s IPL. There are players who haven’t played Ranji Trophy and now they are playing (for) India. Imagine how much bench-strength we are going to have.” She also made it clear how excited everyone is and hopefully it is going to be massive full of excitement.
Commenting how WPL will elevate cricket in India, she noted, “I think Women’s IPL will definitely change a lot for women’s cricket in India because practice makes you perfect, so it is the same thing. Just imagine at a higher stage when overseas players with top Indian cricketers coming there, playing together, what kind of matches will be having, some will go down the wire, some will be like from nowhere you will just make a match out.” She remarked about playing under pressure and nurturing every bit of cricket inside which is going to raise the standards of cricket along with learning at the same time.
Expressing her excitement about the inaugural WPL Auction, she commented, “The interesting story is that we have always watched men’s IPL and how the auctions are, everyone is bidding for one player, this and then, so I was always very glued to it like it’s very exciting and there are few of those guys we practiced together just to see them going to maybe Chennai Super Kings, it’s a very proud feeling. We always imagined what it would like to be for us to experience that kind of a moment. I haven’t experienced it yet, but when it happens it is going to be special because it’s the first edition of the Women’s IPL.
She shared how ignorant and unaware she was of Women’s Cricket and Indian Women’s Cricket in special as she didn’t have the same opportunity, but it would really impact the women’s sport in India when something like this would be going live at such a large scale. “I am just planning to go with the flow and enjoy every moment over here,” a delighted Jemimah said, “because it’s going to be exciting, fun but it’s (also) going top be competitive. It’s going to be nail-biting finishes.”
“It’s not the players that have got women’s cricket to a whole new level in India, it’s actually the fans and their support for us throughout these years especially while playing in the world cups or Commonwealth, the kind of love and support we have got from our fans, I think we are blessed to have such people and such support,” Jemimah concluded.
Next was Harleen Deol to express her excitement for the first ever WPL and how it’s going to change the outlook for Women’s Cricket, “We are very excited for it; we have been waiting for it for a long time, so we are really looking forward to it. (In WPL) more exposure will be there and the elite players from all across the world will come and we’ll get to learn a lot of things so it will be a game-changer for the Indian (cricket) culture.”
Talking about the enhancement of the individual game, she remarked, “I love handling pressure. I get more excited when the situation is more tough so I feel like you can concentrate more when you are in a pressure situation.” She seconded the fact that since there will be players who known each other’s game, so a funny banter is possible.
She also shared a vivid message for her fellow players where she said, “Since we enjoy each other, so I would like to say that be in the moment and just enjoy whatever (comes) because you’ve been working hard for all to express yourself over there. At times things are not your way but eventually it comes, just enjoy your moment and enjoy your life that’s what I want to say because these moments will never come back so instead of regretting just be happy and enjoy.”
