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Women’s cricket has grown leaps and bounds in the last few years. In terms of Indian Cricket, the women’s team received huge praise after finishing as the runner-up in the 2017 World Cup. They followed it up with similar performances in the 2020 T20 World Cup, which opened floodgates of cricket fans requesting BCCI to start Women’s IPL.
At present, the Women’s T20 Challenge has been organized by BCCI for the last 3 years, which involves a total of 3 teams, with the presence of players from different countries. In the recent IPL Governing Council, a decision was taken on staging a 6-team Women’s IPL, which is likely to be started from next year onwards.
Here is what Punjab Kings co-owner Ness Wadia had to say about the Women’s Indian Premier League,
"We would be more than interested in that (Women's IPL). IPL for women is long overdue and it would be very special when it happens. Women's cricket has really developed over the years," Wadia told PTI.
The managing director of Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, Ness Wadia has been a key decision-maker of the Punjab -based franchise in the Indian Premier League since 2008. Although he is not quite often seen in the stadiums, he marked his presence in the IPL 2022 mega auction. He also spoke about the Indian team’s performance in the Women’s World Cup.
"The World Cup is going on right now and there is so much interest for the women's game. It was heartbreaking to see our team lose yesterday," Wadia added.
The boards like Australia and England have been quite active to organize the Women’s Big Bash League and Women’s Hundred competition in the country, and the West Indies Cricket Board also announced the Women’s CPL from 2022. Looking at the different boards and pressure from the cricket fans, the IPL governing Council finally arrived at a decision to organize the Women’s IPL.
The BCCI is said to have been first approaching the current owners of the Men’s IPL team to also have a women’s team. With Wadia supporting the decision, the Women’s IPL is expected to receive a good response from the other owners as well.