Eight IPL franchises are confirmed to be in the race for WIPL teams as BCCI is set to announce bidding winners on January 25.
Image Source: AFP
BCCI is set to expand the highest revenue-generating source of income for them further as they are looking forward to introducing Women’s IPL. Rumored for a long time, the Women’s IPL will be part of IPL in 2023 for the first time.
It’s confirmed that at least eight existing IPL men’s franchises will bid to own teams in the WIPL.
The auction for the winning bidders will be telecasted live on January 25 when it opens sealed bids.
Further, into the WIPL development, BCCI has shortlisted venues, and among the included are Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Eden Gardens in Kolkatta, Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, Indore’s Holkar Stadium, Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium Guwahati’s Barsapara Stadium and how can we forgot the hotspot Mumbai venue though the decision will be taken whether to choose Wankhede or DY Patil or Brabourne stadiums based on availability and other factors.
BCCI has set no base price and bidders have been asked to quote the price for 10 seasons. The criteria are simple, “Stadium with the highest bid amount will be awarded first”.
Further commenting on the format, the inaugural season will comprise 22 matches with each team playing others twice. Interestingly there will be no semi-finals as the table topper will directly get entry into finals and those who are in second and third spots will compete in an eliminator to determine the second finalist. This format will continue for another two years and from 2026 WIPL will include 33-34 matches.
Women’s IPL has received a lot of appreciation from players and panels around the world. Indian players like Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Smriti Mandhana have welcomed the WIPL announcement while Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami who bid adieu to international cricket in recent years are hoping that someone picks them.
This post was last modified on January 14, 2023 12:34 PM