Following the successful conclusion of the Women T20 Challenge 2022, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is planning to make the tournament bigger. If reports are to be believed, the Indian cricket board is looking for a window to conduct a full-fledged women’s Indian Premier League (IPL).
According to an ANI report, the BCCI officials have had a discussion with stakeholders regarding the tournament. Board President Sourav Ganguly and Secretary Jay Shah have made it clear that the WIPL, featuring six teams, will be conducted in a fully-fledged manner; the report further stated.
“There was a meeting during the IPL final. There are two windows for which a green signal has to be obtained, one in March/April and the second one in September/October. We will also get in touch with ICC to seek a separate window. BCCI could start men’s IPL in May next year,” a source was quoted as saying by ANI.
The concept of Women’s IPL is something that has been garnering support from several modern-day cricketers. The likes of Harmanpreet Kaur, Ben Stokes, Punam Raut, Smriti Mandhana and Heather Knight among others have extended their support behind the idea.
While a full-fledged Women’s IPL has not yet translated into a reality, the Women’s T20 Challenge was organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) alongside the men’s IPL. It is the closest thing Indian Cricket has to IPL till now.
History of Women’s T20 Challenge
The first-ever Women’s T20 Challenge took place in 2018 with a one-off fixture between IPL Trailblazers and IPL Supernovas. Both sides featured players from Indian and overseas. International stars such as Suzie Bates, Alyssa Healy, Danielle Wyatt, and Beth Mooney participated in the game. Supernovas won the game by defeating the Trailblazers by three wickets at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
In the following years, cricketers from West Indies, South Africa, and Sri Lanka also joined the competition.
In 2019, this competition was expanded, with the addition of a team named Velocity. This title was also won by Supernovas, defeating Velocity by 4 wickets in the final. In 2020, Trailblazers captured their maiden title by defeating Supernovas by 16 runs in finals.
In the recently-concluded edition of the Women’s T20 challenge, Supernovas clinched their third title, defeating Velocity in the finals held at MCA Stadium in Pune.
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