Former Indian skipper Mithali Raj is set to join one of the Women’s Premier League franchises as a mentor for the inaugural season. According to fresh reports , the 40-year-old was keen to play in the tournament but a lack of interest from the franchises forced her into coaching responsibilities.
She will join Gujarat as a mentor for the inaugural Women’s Premier League,” a source close to the developments told News18 Cricketnext. The report further claimed that the Gujarat franchise is extremely happy with having Mithali Raj in their dressing room as his ‘vast experience across formats will only benefit the team.’
The legendary batter has featured in 89 T20Is for the country and accumulated 2,364 runs at a healthy average of 37.52. She last played a T20I game for India back in 2019 against England at home.
She continued to play ODI and Tests before announcing retirement in June 2022. The Adani Group bought the Ahmedabad franchise with a bid of Rs 1,289 crores at the auction held by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday.
BCCI secretary Jay Shah on Wednesday termed January 25, 2023 as a ‘historic day’ in cricket as bids for the Women’s Premier League broke the records of the inaugural men’s IPL in 2008.
“Today is a historic day in cricket as the bidding for teams of inaugural #WPL broke the records of the inaugural Men’s IPL in 2008! Congratulations to the winners as we garnered Rs.4669.99 Cr in total bid," Shah tweeted.
“This marks the beginning of a revolution in women’s cricket and paves the way for a transformative journey ahead not only for our women cricketers but for the entire sports fraternity. The #WPL would bring necessary reforms in women’s cricket and would ensure an all-encompassing ecosystem that benefits each and every stakeholder", Shah added.