Top women set for Indian exhibition

Australia's top players could feature in a one-off women’s T20 exhibition match ahead of an Indian Premier League play-off match in Mumbai later this month.

Indian media is reporting the Board of Control for Cricket in India is planning to hold the one-off game, which would see 30 players – 20 locals and 10 internationals – meet at Wankhede Stadium ahead of the first qualifying final on May 22.

The match would mirror the IPL, with the playing XIs made up of seven Indians and four overseas players.

The BCCI is reported to have approached Australia, South Africa and England to lure the game’s biggest names to the subcontinent for the match.

A Cricket Australia spokesperson told cricket.com.au they hoped to see Australian players involved in the exhibition game, which would be a tentative step towards the future introduction of a women’s IPL.

A women's IPL would follow in the footsteps of Australia’s Rebel WBBL, which was introduced in 2015-16, and England's Super League, launched in 2016.

The women's game has rapidly grown in popularity in India since the national team's appearance in last year’s Women's World Cup final at Lord's.

ODI captain Mithali Raj is among those who have called for a women’s IPL, but the veteran believes it will take several years for the domestic game to grow strong enough to support the league.

"I see the potential (in a women's IPL)," Raj told Indian media earlier this year.

"When I was asked immediately after the World Cup I thought that would be the right time but to have that kind of set-up in such a short period was always going to be difficult.

"Now, having seen India A perform, I realise we don't have the bench that we require and I'm not sure it is the right time because we are still struggling with our second string.

"When you play in a competition it should go towards helping the sport, not have it backfire. If you do it too quickly and the response is not very good, it might come back at you.

"Perhaps in another year or two it will be the right time, once we have our domestic set-up, a bigger pool of players, we'll be ready to play in a Women's Premier League in India."

Australia completed a successful tour of India in March, whitewashing the hosts in the ODIs before emerging triumphant in the T20 tri-series that also featured England.

The national squad have since enjoyed a break from cricket after a hectic summer that featured the Commonwealth Bank Women’s Ashes and WBBL|03.

Australia’s contracted players will come together in Brisbane for a camp at the end of the month as they begin very early preparations for a busy 2018-19 summer that will feature T20I and ODI series against New Zealand, an away tour against Pakistan in October and November’s World T20 in the Caribbean.