After the
culmination of the IPL Governing Council meeting, the BCCI has repeatedly asked the selectors
to prepare a list of over 200 players for the inaugural edition of the Women’s IPL. Out
of 200, around 170 will constitute Indian players, while others will be overseas
players.
The Women’s
T20 Challenge organized in India over the last few years have seen the participation
of prominent Indian as well as overseas players. However, the Women’s IPL will witness
the teams increasing from 3 to 5, the stage getting bigger, and the franchise model.
Moreover, the local players will get much-needed exposure to quality cricket,
which will help them improve their craft. In the last
few months, BCCI have been taking the step towards gender equality.
Apart from
the equal pay to the men and women’s international cricketers, recent reports
suggests that female umpires will be introduced in the Ranji Trophy 2022-23.
Last month,
the newly elected IPL Chairman Arun Dhumal reckoned that they want to stage the
biggest women’s T20 tournament, on similar lines to the men’s version. With the increase in fan base and reach of Women’s
IPL, more girls are expected to take up the sport.
"We
are working on making it one of the best women's cricket tournaments in the
world. What we did in the IPL, we want to do something similar with WIPL,"
Dhumal was quoted as saying by NDTV in November.
The idea of
Women’s IPL has been welcomed by Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana,
who think it will help in the enhancement of the sports infrastructure of women’s
cricket in India.
Furthermore,
the tentative schedule for the Women’s IPL 2023 is from March 7 to 22. The media
rights tender and franchise auction are expected to take place soon as per the
reports.