The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has now come out with another great initiative for the sport with the announcement of the plans for organizing Women's IPL starting in 2023.
There was a lot of pressure on the board from the sporting world over the last few years in order to consider this tournament for Women as the vertical has been booming in the last decade and we did see the recognition in the recently concluded 100 tournaments and furthermore, the ongoing Women's world cup has already reached record viewership.
This will not be a completely new initiative as we have witnessed few exhibition matches of the women's IPL, however, the launch of a fully-fledged tournament with 5-6 teams is what the board is planning. However, it needs to be approved by the AGM in order to take effect.
"It (the full-fledged women's IPL) has to be approved by the AGM. We plan to start it by next year hopefully,"
- Sourav Ganguly, BCCI president
There is more good news for the cricket fraternity as although the approval and execution for the inaugural Women's IPL will take about a year, the board has decided to conduct four exhibition matches with the venue most likely to be Pune. It is further studied that the four matches will take place between three teams around the time of the Men's IPL play-offs.
"four matches involving three women teams around the time of the men's IPL playoffs. Pune will be the most likely venue for the women's games."
- Brijesh Patel, IPL chairman
The first time the exhibition of women's IPL was held was in the year 2018 when the IPL Supernovas defeated IPL Trailblazers by 3 wickets to win the title. The second season too saw the Supernovas register their second title win, however, this time around the runners-up were IPL Velocity. The year 2020 witnessed the IPL Trailblazers lift the cup by getting the better of Supernovas.
At a Governing Council meeting of the Indian Premier League on Friday, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has proposed a six-team women's IPL from the next year.
— The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) March 25, 2022
The Women's Twenty20 Challenge will return for this year in May.#WomensIPL #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/OpgWR3yEjS
The tournament was not held in 2020 owing to the pandemic. The Indian women faced an emotional defeat at the ongoing Women's World Cup after losing to South Africa in what was a potential quarter-final clash. Australia and West Indies are set to lock horns in the 1st semi-final set to take place this Wednesday. While the 2nd semi-finals will feature South Africa and England.
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Cover Credits: BCCIofficial
