Former India speedster Jhulan Goswami emphasized that franchise leagues can play a key role in growing women’s cricket. Goswami is one of the most exceptional pace bowlers India has ever produced. The all-time leading wicket-taker in Women’s ODIs has served as bowling coach and mentor of Mumbai Indians (MI-W) in the Women’s Premier League. She recently took over the role of mentor for the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) in the Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WPL).
Goswami called on the International Cricket Council (ICC) to take appropriate measures, asserting that franchise cricket is the ‘future of women’s cricket.’ She also emphasized that for women’s growth, the focus must be on T20 leagues worldwide.
“It’s a big challenge for women’s cricket. Earlier, we saw these things happen for men’s cricket but never expected it to happen for women’s cricket, but that’s happening. And I’m happy to see that. The ICC needs to take care, franchise cricket is the future of women’s cricket. And that’s the growth of women’s cricket globally. You have to give priority to every franchise league otherwise cricket will not grow,” Goswami said on ESPNcricinfo’s Powerplay podcast.
The 41-year-old went on to say that the franchise leagues such as WBBL, The Hundred, WCPL, WPL have produced several quality players thus far. She also suggested that international schedules should be devised in a significant way to prevent any conflicts between bilateral series and franchise tournaments.
“See how many quality cricketers were produced by franchise cricket in the last few years, starting with WBBL as well as the Hundred, WCPL, WPL. A lot of youngsters they’ve provided every year, so you have to give priority to those windows and after that you have to have bilateral series. If you have your bilateral series and franchise leagues clashing then you will lose out on quality cricketers,” Goswami added.
Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Richa Gosh, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Shreyanka Patil, are the few Indian stars featuring in various franchise leagues. In 2023, Shreyanka finished the WCPL as their leading wicket-taker. India skipper Harmanpreet, emerged as Player of the Tournament award in the WBBL while Mandhana excelled in both WBBL and in The Hundred last year.
In addition, Jemimah and fast bowler Shikha Pandey are set to feature in the upcoming WCPL. The WPL, which began in 2023, has also demonstrated the potential of many players, including Sajeevan Sajana and Asha Shobana. It is worth noting that the duo has made their India debuts after the last WPL edition. Left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar also made India debut during the Asia Cup 2024 following a standout WPL season.