Hyderabad: The year 2020 was supposed to be the year of women's sports but then the COVID-19 pandemic happened. Who would have thought after playing Women's T20 World Cup final in front of a record crowd that Indian women cricketers would have to wait for eight months to play professional cricket again.
COVID-19 is threatening to derail all the good work done for women’s cricket. As India's ODI captain Mithali Raj has put it: "Coronavirus pandemic has damaged the growth of women’s cricket and set it back by a couple of years."
Getting Men's cricket back on track is the prime concern of most of the cricket bodies in the world. And at a time when there is not much women's cricket is happening, the clash of dates between India's Women's T20 Challenge and it's Australian counterpart, Women's Big Bash League, could stunt the women's game.
In an exclusive conversation with ETV Bharat former England women's cricket team coach Mark Robinson took a moderate stand saying it’s not ideal time for the clash between WIPL and WBBL. "It's not ideal for the game. It is not an ideal time or situation," Robinson said.
However, Robinson further stressed that before deciding on Women's T20 Challengers' dates the Indian cricket board must have thought about all the logistical issues and infrastructure in Sharjah where it's going to be played.
The former England women's cricket team coach who guided the England women's team to World Cup glory in 2017, said that it was the "simplest and easiest way" to organise the Women's IPL at the end of men's Indian Premier League due to all these issues.
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Robinson also reckoned that "it's not ideal to play Women's IPL when Women's Big Bash League is going on. But at least it's happening."
"It is also an opportunity for players who would not have been a part of women's Big Bash League. So internationally it is opening an opportunity for cricketers from worldwide," the 53-year said before adding, "It's a shame Australian won't be a part of WIPL and some leading Indian players would miss the opportunity to play in WBBL."
Robinson went on to add that it is an extraordinary time and sometimes you have to take all these measures. "2020 has been a ruin for women's cricket. Not a lot of women's tournaments have been played."
