At the IPL governing council meeting that was held last week, the idea of a five to six-team Women’s IPL was proposed, starting next year. Women cricketers have been playing the three-team Women’s Challenger Trophy, but it spanned only over four days and was not played like franchise cricket. The craze for franchise cricket has been high since the commencement of the Women’s Big Bash League, and the introduction of The Hundred last year. On that nPunjab Kingsote, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to come up with the first edition of the Women’s IPL, preferring the existing franchises to be a part of it.
Hearing about the news, Punjab Kings co-owner Ness Wadia showed interest in buying a Women’s IPL team. “We would be more than interested in that (Women’s IPL). IPL for women is long overdue and it would be very special when it happens. Women’s cricket has really developed over the years. The World Cup is going on right now and there is so much interest for the women’s game. It was heartbreaking to see our team lose yesterday,” Wadia said. When asked about the base price for that he would like to bid for owning a women’s team, Wadia said: “That is for the BCCI to decide but I can tell you if we are asked to own a team we would be more than interested. I feel the league would be sustainable as well. I would be surprised if it doesn’t double at least. Upwards of 35000 crores for sure.”
The pressure to start the Women’s IPL kept building upon the BCCI after seeing other countries take a step towards it. Recently, West Indies decided to conduct a three-team CPL for women. The BCCI added two new teams in the Men’s IPL, but there was no news about Women’s IPL until last week. Wadia also said that the Punjab Kings had proposed the idea of a Women’s IPL to the BCCI. “We discussed with Jay Shah and Sourav Ganguly and they were more than happy to go ahead with it. The national anthem is played in sporting leagues in the USA. I am a diehard patriot and was overjoyed when it (National Anthem) was played. It is the Indian Premier League after all,” Wadia said in his concluding statements.
