Women's IPL likely to happen in THIS month, MI and CSK interested to buy teams

The first edition of Women's Indian Premier League (WIPL) will be held most likely in 2023 in the month of March. BCCI will hold the tournament in a one-month window and the first season will see five teams taking part, says a PTI report. The league will take place right after the Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa. "Yes, the WIPL will start in the first week of March and we have earmarked a four-week window for the first year. The T20 World Cup in South Africa is from February 9 to 26 and immediately after that we plan to hold the WIPL," a senior BCCI official privy to development told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

"As of now, we are going ahead with five teams but it could be six as there is a lot of interest among potential investors. In due course of time, the process of auctioning of teams will be announced," he further said.

I am very excited to read about a window being carved out for the women's IPL early next year. I hope it is a full fledged tournament. It will lead to a revolution in the women's game in India. — Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 12, 2022

Not to forget, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly and secretary Jay Shah had earlier confirmed that WIPL can be held in 2023. The demand for the Women's IPL has been growing ever since Indian women's cricket started winning big series and tournaments. There is a belief among fans that standard of women's cricket will improve with the WIPL like how it helped the men's game to grow. 

"I am thrilled at the kind of response we have got from the stakeholders. Multiple existing IPL teams have enquired and expressed serious interest in owning WIPL franchises," Shah had said in an interview to PTI some time back.

Before that, Ganguly had also expressed his confidence about the start of the WIPL in 2023.

"I strongly believe that next year i.E. 2023 will be a very good time to start a full-fledged women's IPL which will be as big and grand a success as men's IPL," he had said.

There is more good news. The same report also tells that successful IPL teams like Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings have expressed their interest in buying teams. Even UTV big boss Ronnie Screwvala had tweeted that he would be interested in buying a WIPL franchise.