Women's IPL
Women's IPL (Credits: Twitter)

The much-awaited Women’s IPL is finally set to begin in 2023. There have been widespread calls to begin a T20 tournament for the women in India on the lines of highly successful IPL. The Indian cricket board has been organising a mini T20 event named Women’s T20 Challenge since 2018. The BCCI has organised it during the IPL.

In 2018, only one game was held before the men’s matches. Since then, the event has been a three-team competition. But with the women’s game gaining popularity in the county with each passing day, the BCCI has finally decided to start a standalone event. According to ESPNcricinfo, BCCI Sourav Ganguly has confirmed that the board has earmarked a window in March for the Women’s IPL in 2023.

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Women's IPL
Women’s IPL (Credits: Twitter)

The BCCI has already started preparing for the event. In order to make room for the Women’s IPL, the board has already tweaked its women’s domestic calendar. The women’s season that generally stretches from November to April has been advanced by a month. The senior women’s season for 2022-23 will now begin on October 11 with the T20 competition, and end in February next year with the inter-zonal one-day competition.

Five or six teams likely to participate in Women’s IPL:

Earlier this year in May, BCCI secretary Jay Shah had revealed the number of teams that are likely to feature in the inaugural season of the Women’s IPL. Shah had suggested that the first season would feature five or six teams.

“I am thrilled at the kind of response we have got from stakeholders,” he had told PTI. “Multiple existing IPL teams have enquired and expressed serious interest in owning WIPL franchises.”

So far several franchises have expressed their interest in owning a team in the Women’s IPL. Rajasthan Royals have publicly thrown their support behind the tournament.