Who needs Kohli and Dhoni, when we have Mithali and Mandhana: Surely time for a women's IPL

A lot of us have grown up seeing the women around us sacrificing their dreams and not getting enough support to pursue what they want to do in life. In what has been a patriarchal society, only a few manage to do what they want to do. And only a very few get to do something other than sitting in front of computers in four-walled enclosures.

Pursuit of excellence

As Smriti Mandhana's brother was attending cricket coaching camps in Sangli, the fire in her belly to represent India at the highest level sparked off. The India women's cricket team opener was not aware of what it meant to wear the blue jersey, but all she wanted from a very young age was to see her name in the newspapers, like her brother, who later opted out of cricket.

The young girl from Sangli joined Maharashtra junior coach Anant Tambvekar's training camp and went on to fulfill her father's dreams. Now, at the ICC Women's World Cup 2017 in England, the India opener is piling up runs at will and receiving accolades and attention from the cricketing fraternity, and rightly so.

Role model father

Not many women in the country are as lucky as Ekta Bisht, the left-arm spinner who decimated the Pakistan women in the much-anticipated encounter on July 2 with a five-wicket haul -- India men's team spinners, did you watch?

Bisht had a dream and her father Kundan Singh Bisht, a retired havaldar from the Indian Army, decided to give his all to see his daughter pursue her dreams.

The family had to overcome financial struggles after Kundan retired from his job in 1988. To support his daughter's dream and his family, which includes two more children and his wife, he went on to set-up a tea stall in Almora, a small town in Uttarakhand.

The 31-year-old is now teaching a lesson or two to the much-celebrated men's cricket team spin duo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who struggled in England last month at the Champions Trophy, on how to deceive batters with the art of flight and deception away from home.

Unlike male cricketers, who make headlines right from the day they make an impact in domestic cricket, their women counterparts have to grind it out and make it to the international team to even get remotely recognised by the fans in the cricket-crazy country. The fanbase for a young Rishabh Pant will be humongous when compared to what a Mithali Raj, the veteran Indian skipper, who just needs 33 more runs to become the highest run getter in Women's ODI, enjoys.

All these seem to be changing with the way the Women in Blue have been performing in England over the last few weeks. India, marshalled by Raj, have won four matches on the trot and are placed second in the table.

Raj and her women started their campaign on a high when they overpowered hosts England in their first match and followed it up with a thumping seven-wicket win over the World T20 champions West Indies.

When it came to the high-pressure game against the Pakistan Women, the girls, unlike Virat Kohli's Men in Blue, beat the nerves to make light work of Sana Mir's side. Against an in-form Sri Lankan side on Wednesday, Raj's side looked impeccable as they notched up a 16-run win to make it four in four.

Let's thank the ICC, superstar Raj and girls rock it on Twitter

A lot of these efforts would have gone unnoticed if it was not for International Cricket Council's (ICC) effort to televise matches in the ongoing editions of the World Cup. The governing body has been active on social media as well, uploading clips and photos from the action in England.

Social media is now abuzz with mentions of the efforts of Indian women cricketers. If the count of social media followers is anything to go by, then the women's cricket team members are the new celebrities of Indian sport. Mithali, who had only around 2000 followers before the start of the tournament, now has around 50,000 and Mandhana has 30,000 while the Women's Big Bash League star Harmanpreet Kaur has around 21,000.

While the women are enjoying the attention they are getting, it is important to note that their performances have not dipped, and only gotten better with every game at the quadrennial world event. Time and again, Mithali has been stressing about the importance of improving their game.

Time for women's IPL?

Even after some brilliant displays on the field, the skipper had been vocal about coming up with better fielding performances. While it will be difficult to emulate the results of Kohli's team immediately, given the stark differences in the support the two units receive, it is heartening to see how the girls are showing the world that they are hungry for success at the highest level.

With a semi-final berth all but guaranteed, Raj and her girls are well-placed to become the world champions for the first time. However, the support they should receive must not be a reflection of their achievements at the international level.

With Australia and England already coming up with franchise-based cricket leagues for their women, it is time the richest cricket board in the world -- the BCCI -- comes with an Indian Premier League for women's cricketers.

If anyone is arguing against such an initiative citing lack of popularity of women's cricket, show them what is being said of Raj and Co. on social media platforms. India have found their new heros in these women cricketers and it is time to not just cherish their feats, but also provide them enough support so that they can become world beaters in more ways than one.