"Australia, who have been dominant through the years, have a serious contender" - Mithali Raj on positives of India winning U19 Women's World Cup

Former Indian captain Mithali Raj believes the U19 Women's T20 World Cup win last month will open new avenues for women cricketers in the country.

Shafali Verma and Co. defeated England in a lopsided final to win the inaugural edition of the competition. Riding on an all-round bowling performance, India bowled out England for 68 before chasing down the target in 14 overs with seven wickets to spare.

When quizzed about the positives of winning an ICC event, Mithali stated that if these players can be groomed in the Women's Premier League (WPL), India would be in a state to challenge world-beaters Australia.

"This U19 World Cup title showed there is talent at that level," Mithali told the Indian Express. "The potential is so much that it can be groomed and in a couple of years or three years with the WPL, we can say Australia, who have been dominant through the years, have a serious contender."

Mithali, who will work as a mentor for the Gujarat Giants in the WPL, further stated that the T20 competition will help unearth new talents and create a pool of cricketers.

"Earlier, people used to say there is not much of a talent pool," she added. "And I would say at the senior level, there is a limited talent pool. But with the WPL and franchises coming in, the scouting will start and parents will also get assurance that even at U19 level, their kids can represent India. Honestly, how many of them can crack the India senior team without Under-19 cricket? Not everybody gets a chance to be part of the 15.

"With U19 cricket, a completely different set of 15 can represent India. So what happens because of this is, they start young, schools will give them a shot at representing India at U19 level and that will increase the pool of players in Under-14s and Under-16s. When they think they can graduate into the senior side, they will have more players to come out of U19."

The WPL auction is slated to take place in Mumbai on Monday, February 13. Five teams will participate in the tournament, which will be played between March 4 and 26 at the Brabourne Stadium and the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Mumbai.

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"Emerging players tournament and India A will be in place once a larger pool in place" - Mithali Raj

Mithali also highlighted the importance of having an ecosystem in Indian women's cricket. She said having age group cricket will help the players grow gradually and won't feel alienated when they arrive at the international arena.

"It is healthy to have an ecosystem where they are graduating at their own pace rather than fast-track them into the senior level," she said. "There are many cricketers that I’ve seen in my career who do well in Under-19 and are immediately fast-tracked into the senior team without two-three years of experience. And once they don’t do well at the senior level, they are never able to come back.

"So it is important to have U16s, U19s where the gradual growth of the player is important and they can sustain at a higher level," Mithali added. "The sustainability will be there only where there is gradual growth. And I’m sure the emerging players tournament and India A will be in place once a larger pool is in place. Those matches will also help them."

Do you think having age-group teams will help in the growth of women's cricket in India?

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