The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in planning to make the inaugural edition of the Women’s Indian Premier League (WIPL) a five-team affair, according to reports in Cricbuzz. Earlier this year, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has confirmed the board’s intention of starting a women’s version of the IPL from 2023.
The tournament is expected to be played in March, and it is expected to conclude before the commencement of the men’s IPL. Unlike the men’s version, where a team features four foreign players in the playing XI, WIPL teams are expected to have five overseas cricketers in their playing team. Among them, however, one player is likely to be from an associate nation.
Each team is expected to play eight matches in the league stage – two each against the other four sides, which will make the league stage a twenty-game affair.
The top team is likely to make a direct entrance in the final, while those who finish second and third could lock horns in a contest for the other final berth.
BCCI Yet To Decide Venues for WIPL 2023
Reports also suggest that the board is yet to decide on the location of the teams. It could either share a resemblance with the men’s IPL, wherein matches will be held at venues where IPL has been staged previously, or BCCI could also expand the tournament to non-IPL venues by distributing the teams into five geographical zones.
However, the board is unlikely to use more than two venues for this competition, where one half of the season will be staged in one venue, before the action shifts to another city for the second half of the league stage and also the final.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)