"If you have your bilateral series and franchise leagues clashing then you will lose out on quality cricketers" - Goswami prioritizes T20 leaguesÂ
Former India women's cricketer Jhulan Goswami has opined that franchise T20 leagues should be given precedence over bilateral affairs for the growth and health of the women's game. She has even suggested separate windows for bilateral series and T20 leagues so the players are not forced to lose out on the latter.
Women's cricket saw a rise with the introduction of the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) and the Women's Hundred, which run almost parallel with the men's edition. However, the Women's Premier League (WPL) has proven to be a game-changer. Following the success of the first two editions of the WPL, the craze for the game has translated onto the international circuit as well.
The growth of franchise leagues hands women's cricket an issue that the International Cricket Council (ICC) has been facing - the infamous franchise vs bilateral debate.
Jhulan Goswami stands firmly on the franchise side as she feels it has the environment to produce better players, leading to the game being in safer hands.
"It's a big challenge for women's cricket. Earlier we saw these things happen for men's cricket but never expected it to happen for women's cricket, but that's happening. And I'm happy to see that. The ICC needs to take care, franchise cricket is the future of women's cricket. And that's the growth of women's cricket globally. You have to give priority to every franchise league otherwise cricket will not grow," Goswami said on ESPN's Powerplay Podcast.
"A lot of youngsters they've provided every year so you have to give priority to those windows and after that you have to have bilateral series. If you have your bilateral series and franchise leagues clashing then you will lose out on quality cricketers. And if you don't have quality cricketers then your tournament is not going to be successful," she added.
Cricketers have been forced to choose between international duty and franchise cricket in recent times. When it comes to women's cricket, there have been several absentees in franchise tournaments because of calendar clashes with bilateral affairs.
England skipper Heather Knight was forced to miss the 2024 Women's Premier League (WPL) with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) as a tour of New Zealand was scheduled at the same time.
Although subcontinent stars like Chamari Athapaththu, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, and Richa Ghosh are currently embroiled in the Hundred 2024, they were forced to miss the first week of the competition due to the 2024 Women's Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.
"In women's cricket, we don't have a lot of options" - Jhulan Goswami
There is still a long way to go for women's cricket, as it still needs a lot more talent to strengthen the existing franchises and push for more teams, particularly in the Women's Premier League (WPL), which currently only has five sides.
"In women's cricket, we don't have a lot of options, a few quality cricketers we have in the world. If they're occupied in bilateral series, then the volume of the [T20] tournaments is going to go down. We should make sure that when the premier league (franchise) tournaments are going on, give them certain windows and after that you have the bilateral series. It will help women's cricket's growth also. That is my personal view," Goswami said on the same interview.
Women's cricket will see a major tussle between franchise and bilateral cricket towards the end of the year, following the culmination of the 2024 Women's T20 World Cup.
WBBL, the major franchise competition in the second half of the year, is scheduled to be held from October 27 to December 1. However, it faces stiff competition from the bilateral affairs scheduled during the phase according to the FTP.