Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly brought good news for Indian Women's cricket team, who clinched a historic ODI win against England on Wednesday as the former India captain has informed the affiliated state units that the Board plans to start Women’s IPL (WIPL) early next year, Sports Tak reported.
Ganguly wrote in the letter dated September 20," the BCCI is currently working on the much-awaited Women’s IPL. We are expecting to start the first season early next year."
The Board has already earmarked the February-March window for next year’s WIPL and a formal go-ahead is expected after the Annual General Meeting next month.
In other major developments, IPL 2023 will revert to the home and away format. "The next season of the men's IPL will also go back to the home and away format with all the 10 teams playing their home matches at their designated venues," Ganguly mentioned.
The IPL has been held at only a few venues since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 as the lucrative league unfolded behind close doors across three venues in UAE (Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi).
In 2021 too, the tournament was held across four venues -- Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Chennai.
However, with the pandemic under control, the cash-rich league will return to its old format in which each team plays one home and one away match.
In a mail to the state associations, Ganguly informed them that after the end of the T20 World Cup in Australia, the Indian men's team will play New Zealand and Sri Lanka at home, while the Indian women's team will host Australia.
"The BCCI's home international season starts today and we have exciting cricket action coming our way. The Indian men's senior team will be playing against Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand in the home international series. The Indian women's senior team will be playing against Australia," Ganguly wrote.
Besides launching the women's IPL, the board will also start an Under-15 tournament for the girls. "We are glad to introduce a girls' U-15 tournament from this season. Women's cricket has seen phenomenal growth across the world, and our national team has been performing well. This new tournament will create a pathway for our girls to play at the international level," Ganguly wrote.
The inaugural women's under-15 event will be played from December 26 to January 12 across five venues -- Bangalore, Ranchi, Rajkot, Indore, Raipur, Pune.
