The IPL franchises have hogged lot of limelight recently due to their global expansion in franchise cricket. The Indian franchises have already acquired the rights to own and operate the six teams in upcoming South African T20 tournament and also in UAE T20 League.
According to fresh reports, couple of IPL franchise have shown keen interest in acquiring the rights and ownership in upcoming Women's Indian Premier League in India. The inaugural edition of Women's Indian Premier League is likely to take place in 2023 in the month of March.
Reportedly BCCI will hold the tournament in a one-month window and the first season will see five teams taking part. Indian women's T20 domestic tournament is likely to start right after the Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa. Five-time champions Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, and Rajasthan Royals have shown interest in buying teams in the Women's IPL. Earlier, UTV's boss Ronnie Screwvala had tweeted that he would be interested in buying a WIPL franchise.
A report published in PTI claimed that WIPL will start in the first week of March and four-week window has been secured for the first year. "The T20 WC in South Africa is from February 9 to 26 and immediately after that we plan to hold the WIPL. As of now we are going ahead with five teams but it could be six as there is a lot of interest among potential investors. In due course of time, the process of auctioning of teams will be announced," a source close to the development told PIT.
Earlie, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly and Secretary Jay Shah confirmed that WIPL is likely to be held in 2023. "I am thrilled at the kind of response we have got from the stakeholders. Multiple existing IPL teams have enquired and expressed serious interest in owning WIPL franchises," Shah had said in an interview to PTI.