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BCCI set to launch women's IPL in 2023: What you need to know

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Dristi Sharma
Dristi SharmaOct 14, 2022 | 18:58

BCCI set to launch women's IPL in 2023: What you need to know

Among all the things we talk about when talking about women's empowerment, cricket, especially in India, has become one of the favourite topics. The discussion on pay parity, viewership and love for women's cricket doesn't seem to end. 

Now, what comes as a new but long-awaited initiative, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is all set to launch women's Indian Premier League (IPL) as a five-team tournament in March 2023. This launch, as many believe, will give women's cricket in India the kickstart it needed.

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Why now? The BBCI has taken this decision with respect to the increase in demand for women's cricket recently. 

There is an overall increase of 111% in participation of players along various categories in last eight years. In women's senior category, there is a rise of 129% while in the U-19 category it increased by 92%.
- A BCCI member to PTI
 
What will be the format? According to PTI, the women's IPL will have 20 league games with teams playing each other twice.
  • The first-place team will advance directly to the championship game, while the second-and third-place teams will compete in the eliminator. 
  • Each team will be allowed to have 18 players, with a maximum of six international players.
  • Unlike the IPL, the tournament may be played in a "cluster caravan" format.

A cluster caravan is a form of a match in which multiple venues at different are selected but the match is held only in two cities at a given point in time. 

How the team will be selected? 

Unlike the men's IPL, where franchises bid for teams in a particular city, the BCCI has chalked out two possible plans for the WIPL. 

Plan 1: The first one comprises selling teams across six zones spanning the country. A set of cities in each zone has been shortlisted and comprised. Here are the possible zones:

  • Dharamsala/Jammu (North zone)
  • Pune/Rajkot (West)
  • Indore/Nagpur/Raipur (Central) 
  • Ranchi/Cuttack (East), 
  • Kochi/Visakhapatnam (South) and
  • Guwahati (North-East).

Plan 2: The second strategy calls for selling teams without a stable home base and scheduling games at six IPL venues that have been shortlisted:

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  • Ahmedabad
  • Bengaluru 
  • Chennai
  • Delhi
  • Kolkata
  • Mumbai.

However, the final decision will be taken by the IPL Governing Council chairman at the upcoming Annual BCCI meeting - along with the BCCI office bearers.

dailyO spoke with Yash Lahoti, 27, Founder and CEO, Women's CricZone about the beginning of this new era for women in cricket. Though he says it was an expected decision he is still happy about it.  However, when asked about why the women's team has only six teams as compared to ten, he says, "If you start something you'll be asked if you start small and efficiently and  if you're successful, you will be asked to expand."

Can women's IPL be as successful as men's? Yash says, "We shouldn't compare both since men's IPL is a successful 'company' now since last 15 years." He claims, however, that he won't be shocked if women's IPL attracts more viewers than professional kabaddi or other comparable programmes and quickly surpasses all other sports programming to take second place, after men's IPL.

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What could be the possible challenges that WIPL might face? Yash laid out very pragmatic explanations for the difficulties the WIPL might encounter:

  • Since, the IPL is scheduled for March, when kids have their exams, the viewership might fall as compared to the general holiday-scheduled games in the months of December or July. 
  • Since the WIPL franchise is new, they will have the challenge of developing a new fan base. For example, men's IPL already has a set fanbases for each team. 
  • Bringing in sponsorship for the jersey of the women's team will also be a task since all items that are associated with the men in the jersey might not be adequate for women's jerseys. 
  • Irrespective of the amount of time, WIPL will be given, it would be always compared to the men's one, which might lead to some or the other form of fallout for the audience. 
Last updated: October 14, 2022 | 18:58
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