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

BCCI secretary Jay Shah has dropped a huge hint about the much-anticipated women’s Indian Premier League (IPL). Shah dropped the hint right after the final of the Women’s T20 Challenge on Saturday (May 28).

Speculations are rife that the Women’s IPL will get underway in 2023. Recent reports have suggested that a franchise-based model is likely to have 6 teams in the inaugural season. There have been calls from several quarters to start a IPL like tournament for women.

The Indian cricket board has been organising the Women’s T20 Challenge since 2018. Since the 2018, only three teams have been playing in the competition. And it looks like BCCI has finally decided to start a Women’s IPL.

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

Few minutes after the final of the Women’s T20 Challenge, Shah took to Twitter to state that ‘the next season will be much bigger’. The message from Shah pretty much makes it clear that the BCCI has decided to expand the women’s tournament. The BCCI boss was also delighted with the quality of cricket in this year’s competition as he tweeted:

“The quality of cricket one witnessed in Women’s T20 Challenge was truly remarkable with the best of Indian talent rubbing shoulders with the best in the world. The future is certainly promising and the next season will be much bigger.”

Supernovas beat Velocity:

Talking about the final of the Women’s T20 Challenge, Supernovas beat Velocity by 4 runs to lift the title. The latest win means the  Harmanpreet Kaur-led side has now won 3 titles in four seasons.

Asked to bat first, the Supernovas posted a competitive total of 165 for 7 in the allotted 20 overs. Opener Deandra Dottin was the star with the bat, scoring 62 off 44 balls while captain Harmanpreet scored 43 off just 29 balls.

At one stage, it looked like the Supernovas would cross the 180-run mark after running away to 131 in the 15th over. However, a late collapse saw them lose 4 wickets for 11 runs and they ended up on 165.

The score, however, turned out to be enough as Velocity ended their innings on 161 for 8. The game looked all but over when Velocity lost their 8th wicket in the 17th over with the score only 117. However, a stunning stand between Laura Wolvaardt and Simran Bahadur for the ninth wicket revived Velocity’s hopes.

But Sophie Ecclestone bowled a fine last over, holding her nerve to defend 17 runs and power her team to the title. Wolvaardt was the top-scorer for Velocity, scoring an unbeaten 65 off 40 balls.