The wait for Women’s IPL is now over as the BCCI plans to start the women’s IPL by 2023

The BCCI is planning to start the women’s IPL by 2023, board president Sourav Ganguly said on Friday, while the Women’s T20 Challenge, comprising four games, makes a return this season after a one-year gap. 

Apart from the need to make the IPL and cricket, in general, more inclusive, there has been a growing chorus of star India players calling for a women’s IPL.

They believe it will act as a launchpad for young domestic women cricketers, who can gain the exposure they need as they play with overseas players.

The BCCI has been waiting for the right moment when it makes economic sense for them to take up the project. And, it is learned that at least four men’s IPL franchises are interested in knowing from the BCCI what is on the table in case they want to invest in the WIPL. 

With the second half of the IPL being shifted to the UAE because of the pandemic, the Women’s T20 Challenge was not held last year. However, it was staged in the UAE in 2020 when Trailblazers won the title.

Notably, BCCI has been organizing the Women’s T20 Challenge wherein 3 teams were featured in the T20 tournament. The Women’s T20 Challenge was not held in 2021 even as the BCCI hosted the IPL in two halves amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Many Indian women cricketers, like Jemimah Rodrigues and Smriti Mandhana, have made calls for the introduction of the women’s IPL.

“We are at the level of formulation to have a full-fledged WIPL. It is certainly going to happen. I strongly believe that next year i.e. 2023 will be a very good time to start a full-fledged women’s IPL which will be as big and grand a success as the men’s IPL,” Ganguly was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.