Andrew Strauss Makes Big Prediction For WIPL, Says It Would Accelerate Growth of Womens Cricket

The IPL is currently the world's second-richest sports league, trailing only the National Football League (NFL).

New Delhi: Andrew Strauss, former England captain and legendary cricketer, has made some bold predictions for the Indian Premier League. Strauss acknowledged that the Women’s IPL would provide a significant boost to women’s cricket in the coming years.

Strauss, while delivering the annual Cowdrey lecture at Lord’s on Wednesday, said that “as the Indian economy grows, it is expected that by the time it reaches parity with the size of the USA in 2040, the value of the IPL is likely to be six times what it is today, and this is going to be the biggest domestic sporting tournament in the world, bar none.”

“If you allow yourself to keep bound up in the thesis that the purpose of the game is to bring diverse people together, whether playing or watching, and to allow cricket to educate and connect, then surely the rise of franchise cricket is one of the great steps forward.”

“More players are playing in different parts of the world, experiencing new places and meeting new people, and more and more people around the globe are engaged with the great game that we all love so much.”

Turning to the new five-team women’s IPL, Strauss said it would “accelerate” the growth of women’s cricket.

“The first IPL franchises have just been sold for an earth-shattering sum of GBP 465 million (USD 572.5 million),” the 45-year-old former captain said.

The IPL is currently the world’s second-richest sports league, trailing only the National Football League (NFL). Recently, BCCI announced the five successful bidders who will hold the franchise rights in the upcoming inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League. The auction for WPL is yet to be done, and further details are awaited.