Legendary fast bowler Jhulan Goswami said that franchise cricket is necessary for women’s cricket to grow. Goswami, all-time leading wicket-taker in Women’s ODIs, reckoned that focus needs to be on T20 leagues around the world for the growth of cricket in the women’s circuit.

Goswami has worked with the Mumbai Indians as their bowling coach and mentor in the Women’s Premier League (WPL). The former speedster recently joined the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) as their mentor for the Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WPL).

“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 ESPNcricinfo’s Powerplay podcast.

‘Quality cricketers produced by franchise cricket’

Indian women’s cricketers, including Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodriques and Shreyanka Patil have played in franchise leagues around the world. Last year, Shreyanka became the leading wicket-taker in the WCPL. Harmanpreet once bagged the Player of the Tournament award in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL).

Mandhana has done well while playing for Sydney Thunder in the WBBL and Southern Brave in the Hundred. Jemimah and fast bowler Shikha Pandey will play for TKR in the upcoming WCPL. Goswami also said that international calendars should be made in such a way that bilateral series and franchise leagues don’t end up clashing.

“See how many quality cricketers were produced by franchise cricket in the last few years, starting with WBBL as well as the Hundred, WCPL, WPL. 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,” Goswami added.

The WPL has also witnessed the emergence of cricketers like Sajeevan Sajana and Asha Shobana, who both made their debuts for India after last season. After an impressive WPL campaign, left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar also forayed into international cricket during the Asia Cup.