After a wait of three years, the Indian Premier League will be returning to its former structure where teams will be playing in the ‘Home and Away’ format for the 2023 season. The update was confirmed by BCCI President Sourav Ganguly. In the last three editions, the IPL was hosted by a few venues since the outbreak of COVID-19.
In 2020, the league was played behind closed doors across three stadiums in UAE — Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. Then in 2021, the tournament was played in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Chennai. Similarly, this year's IPL as well was hosted by the four stadiums in the Mumbai-Pune region with playoffs and the final scheduled in Kolkata and Ahmedabad.
Ganguly sent out a note to all state authorities stating that the tournament will be played in the stadiums of all the ten teams. The statement said, “The next season of men’s IPL will also go back to the home and away format with all ten teams playing their home matches at their designated venues.”
On the same note, Sourav Ganguly also informed the state units that BCCI will kick off the Women’s IPL (WIPL) early next year. Ganguly wrote, “The BCCI is currently working in the much-awaited women’s IPL. We are expecting to start the first season early next year.” The Board has already allotted the February-March window for next year’s WIPL and a formal confirmation will be received after the Annual General Meeting next month.
Along the same line, BCCI will also host the first-ever U-15 girls' tournament as a platform for young talent across the country for the U-19 World Cup and future ICC events. The tournament will be played from 26 December to 12 January across five venues — Bangalore, Ranchi, Rajkot, Indore, Raipur, and Pune.
“We are glad to introduce a girls' u-15 tournament from this season. Women’s cricket has seen phenomenal growth across the world and our national team has been performing well. This new tournament will create a pathway for our girls to play at the international level,” Ganguly stated.