India Women's vice-captain, , recently spoke about the Women's Premier League and its expanding target audience over the years.

Smriti also likened the impact the WPL has made over time as compared to the IPL as far as women's and men's cricket is concerned, respectively.

“For sure, in the last three years, we have seen the way WPL has grown as well, and the amount of girls coming out to watch WPL matches. I think 4-5 years back, you would see a lot of guys watching games in the stands. But now I think, we see a clear shift in a lot of even girls coming to watch games,” stated Mandhana, as quoted by The Statesman.

“Like, small girls (are) coming up to us as well, and saying that we aspire to be cricketers, which is a really nice thing. WPL for sure has played a major impact in terms of the way I think T20 cricket has reached, and the entertainment value it definitely gets. What IPL has done for men’s cricket over the last 17 years, I am sure WPL has just started to do that," he added.

Mandhana emphasised the increasing importance of nutrition as far as women's cricket is concerned. She also shared her goal of mentoring emerging players in this domain at her Dubai-based academy.    

“I feel even if the nutrition is right, which we didn’t know when we were growing up (in terms of) what to eat or not, as we used to eat a lot of junk food and whatever was there, if it’s started at the right age, it does play a huge part. So for sure we will have nutritionists in place and we will try and guide the players whoever in terms wants to have it also because nutrition is a very personal choice,” she added.

Smriti will represent in the tri-series against Sri Lanka Women and South Africa Women in April and May (April 27 to May 11). The tournament is all set to be an integral part of the buildup to the Women's World Cup in India.