IPL with 5-6 teams will be great for women's cricket, feels Mandhana

Swashbuckling India opener Smriti Mandhana feels a full-fledged women's Indian Premier League (IPL) can make a difference in tapping the talent which would help the national team do well at the global level.

The 23-year-old opener also acknowledged the efforts the BCCI is putting in to make it a reality.

"The BCCI has put in a lot of effort, first we had an exhibition match kind of women's IPL two years ago then there was a very successful IPL with three teams. And this year it was supposed to be four teams," Mandhana said on the BBC podcast 'The Doosra'.

"I'm sure a lot of IPL style matches will take place for a year or two. A five or six-team IPL for women will be great for Indian women's cricket specially for the World Cups," she added.

The southpaw hopes the gap between the domestic and international cricket that exists in women's cricket in the country right now will be bridged soon.

"Women's cricket in Indian is growing massively, specially the domestic circuit. But there's still a lot of gap between competition between international and domestic circuit which I think will be bridged in 2-3 years."
Asked if she feels the same Mandhana said "We've grown a lot as a team specially after the 2017 WC. T20 format is not one of our strengths before but we have done reasonably well in the last two World Cups."