The 47-year-old shed light on the possibility of the board attending to this matter.
Ahead of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 season opener, some foreign players have pulled out of the tournament. On the surface, the issue seems to be a small-scale recurrence of what happened last year in the men’s league – Indian Premier League (IPL). Former cricketer Anjum Chopra spoke about why the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) may not take a similar approach in the women’s tourney.
She explained, “I’m sure also the franchises are aware of why that has happened (players pulling out). If somebody is out due to injury, they’re out due to injury. The franchises and the BCCI would have discussed this matter.”
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When Anjum was asked about whether the board may take a similar, stringent action this time too, she reckoned that injuries are a part of the game. Without the right discussions with players and franchises, the board may set the wrong precedent for the two-season tournament.
She expressed, “WPL is a very nascent stage product (at this moment).”
However, the situation in the 10-team league was much more serious than WPL. The 47-year-old shed light on the possibility of the board attending to this matter.
She added, “If it starts happening as a precedent, then obviously the BCCI will take a call on that. But right now it’s too early to come in and to know exactly why that happened.”
With each edition, the IPL keeps growing and has inspired other nations to introduce their domestic leagues. The BCCI keeps increasing the auction purse as a reward, especially for the foreign players as they play neck and neck with India’s domestic talent. However, some overseas stars may have rigged the game to earn lucrative contracts.
Last year, BCCI decided to start placing a two-year ban on overseas players who skip IPL after being bought at the previous auction without a solid reason. The start of WPL 2025 has chalked a similar story though most players are out due to serious injuries.
The defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru are missing Kate Cross and Sophie Molineux due to injuries. Sophie Devine, the tournament-winning all-rounder is on a break. UP Warriorz have lost just one player albeit, most important Alyssa Healy who led the side for two editions.
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