BCCI plans six-team Women’s IPL next year

BCCI has begun planning seriously towards starting a Women’s IPL next year. This year, though, it will continue with the practice of staging a three-team Women’s T20 Challenger, which is likely to be held during the IPL playoffs in May end in Pune. “It (the full-fledged women’s IPL) has to be approved by the AGM.

We plan to start it by next year hopefully,” BCCI president Sourav Ganguly told reporters after a meeting of the IPL Governing Council here on Friday. “The process (to launch the women’s IPL) has started. It could be a five or six team league,” said IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel.

Reliable sources in the Board, though, confirmed that it would be a six-team tournament. “This year, though, there will be four matches for the Women in the IPL, involving three teams around the time of the playoffs. The venue is likely to be Pune,” Patel said.

Meanwhile, with the BCCI staying safe due to Covid-19 restrictions, IPL-2022 will see no opening ceremony, though there are plans to conduct a closing ceremony for the glitzy league. It’s learnt that the tender for the media rights for the IPL would also come out soon.