Smriti Mandhana hails T20 leagues for women cricketers

Smriti Mandhana, one of the finest women’s cricket players in the world, praised the growing trend of women’s T20 leagues in Maharashtra, which she felt would further help the prospects of identifying key talent for the national side

Hyderabad: Smriti Mandhana, one of the finest women’s cricket players in the world, praised the growing trend of women’s T20 leagues in Maharashtra, which she felt would further help the prospects of identifying key talent for the national side.

“For state associations, and for Maharashtra as well, to have this sort of platform—where I touched upon the fact that there’ll be a lot of eyes from WPL scouts—and also, of course, these sorts of performances can serve as a benchmark for people to get into the state side as well,” Smriti said on Thursday in Mumbai.

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“I always believe that franchise cricket brings a different sort of professionalism into the sport, and for the girls—the state-level girls—to experience that, I’m sure they’ll be well-prepared when they go to the next level,” the dashing India opener said.

“I mean, the owners come with a different set of expectations, and playing with that sort of expectation always helps groom players and develop maturity in them. So, I’m sure a lot of Maharashtra girls are going to benefit from it,” she said.

On her association with Ratnagiri Jets and Jets Club, Smriti said getting structured programmes at the age of 14–15 was crucial, and later she had to start developing herself by looking at international standards. “I’m sure a lot of girls are going to benefit from it. In terms of the number of girls getting impacted, it’s going to be a lot more, and I’m sure within 3–4 years we’ll see the changes and differences, even in the Indian side and their performances,” she said.

“I feel, for women’s cricket to have this sort of stage of corporate leagues is amazing, and the very fact that state associations and also the WPL—the way they have supported it—shows that, of course, women’s cricket can generate revenues, which is an amazing thing for women’s cricket,” Smriti said.

Smriti said whenever you wear a jersey and represent a team, you want to do the best for them—so that pressure is always there. “But we’ll take that as motivation rather than pressure,” she said.

“I mean, it’s the first edition, so I’m sure there will be a lot of new fans. We don’t know yet… But yeah, I mean, we’ve played in Pune during the T20 Challenge, and we got good support when we played here in the WT20 Challenge. So, I expect everyone to come out in huge numbers and support women’s cricket—support Ratnagiri Jets more, actually,” she said.