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Women's cricket has certainly grown leaps and bounds in the last few years and has involved the cricket-watching audience due to the competitiveness of the teams. The leagues like WBBL and The Hundred from Cricket Australia and England Cricket Board respectively have raised the bar for other boards to commercialize women’s cricket.
There were several rounds of talks held between the top BCCI officials amid rising pressure from the cricket fans to organize the Women’s Indian Premier League (IPL). Last month, the plan was given a green signal by the IPL Governing Council. In the latest announcement, a BCCI official has given the update that the structure of the tournament is currently in progress, and the final course of the decision will be taken after the AGM meeting.
“We have already started working on the plan as to how many teams we can have and what window is going to suit, because we have the men’s IPL as well. As of now, we can’t share many details but yes, we are really excited for this league. Some franchises have already shown interest and are very keen to be part of this tournament. We are planning to have 6 teams to start with. Our team is working on the auction process and other important aspects of the tournament,” a top BCCI top official told Sports Tak.
The BCCI official also gave a hint that many current franchisees in the Men’s IPL have shown an interest to get a women’s team as well. Earlier it was reported that the BCCI will prioritize the current franchises to own a team in the proposed tournament. He added that currently, the proper planning for the auctions is taking place, and the tournament might get started as soon as in August month.
"As of now, everything is just on paper. It will take time to streamline everything as there are many aspects that need to be taken care of – proper planning, auctions, teams etc. But yes we might start the women’s IPL in the summer, but again its completely tentative as of now. Once everything is discussed, the board will make an official announcement. The matter will also be discussed at the AGM to stamp it," BCCI official added.
Since 2018, the BCCI is organizing the Women's T20 Challenge, and a total of three editions have taken place until 2020. A total of three teams, Supernovas, Trailblazers, and Velocity contests against each other in this competition.