Fortunate to have Harmanpreet Kaur and other Indian cricketers in WBBL, says GM Alistair Dobson

Harmanpreet Kaur. (Photo Source: Getty Images)

Even though India’s male cricketers are not allowed to feature in foreign tournaments, BCCI has no rules in place for the female players. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues and Smriti Mandhana among a few others have already featured in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), The Hundred and in the Caribbean Premier League (WCPL) and the trend is unlikely to stop despite the introduction of Women’s Premier League (WPL).

Meanwhile, WBBL General Manager Alistair Dobson has said that Indian players bring in tremendous attraction which has helped the league in terms of revenue. He highlighted the remarkable rise in viewership and added that they have also uplifted the quality of the tournament. Dobson also talked about their capability and leadership skills and indicated inviting more Indian cricketers in the future.

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“We’re very fortunate in the WBBL that Indian players of, you know, whether that’s Harmanpreet Kaur for the (Melbourne) Renegades or others that have been in our competition and had such skill and capability and leadership. So we’re always working closely with other boards around the world about how we can grow our competition and make it as accessible as possible and that won’t stop,” Dobson said.

Legendary commentators Harsha Bhogle and Ravi Shastri too were part of the broadcasting team last year and that, according to Alistair, helped the game grow in the sub-continent. He said that the WBBL is looking to have more global commentators for  the upcoming season to reach out to a wider audience. He expressed the desire to use the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy as a tool to help the tournament grow in India.

“It was amazing to have those guys [Bhogle and Shastri] commentating the BBL. They bring such expertise and interest to our game and they, from all reports, they really loved what they saw. And we’re hoping to see a few global commentators out here again this summer and obviously with a big international summer ahead,” Dobson said.