BCCI plans to start a full-fledged women’s IPL in 2023: Sourav Ganguly

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly opened up about the possibility of starting a women’s Indian Premier League, saying 2023 will be a very good time to start a full-fledged women’s league which will be as big and grand a success as men’s IPL.

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.

Notably, Cricket Australia organises a Women’s Big Bash League, while England and Wales Cricket Board organised the Women’s Hundred alongside the men’s competition during the inaugural edition earlier this year. In 2021, as many as eight Indian women’s players took part in the Big Bash League in Australia.

Meanwhile, former England captain Michael Vaughan has urged the BCCI chief to make starting a women’s Indian Premier League the board’s priority.

A Womens #IPL should be top priority now @SGanguly99 !! Let’s get it sorted ..

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 3, 2022

“A Womens #IPL should be top priority now @SGanguly99 !! Let’s get it sorted ..,” Vaughan tweeted.

‘Women’s T20 Challenge to be held in May’

Ganguly has also confirmed that the Women’s T20 Challenge will be held during the IPL 2022 playoffs in May. The fixtures and the venues will be decided later.

“The Women’s T20 Challenge will again be back this year in the month of May. Hopefully, in the future, we will be able to host a bigger women’s IPL once the number of women players goes up. But this year, the Women’s T20 Challenge will happen during the IPL playoffs,” Ganguly was quoted as saying by Sportstar.

Meanwhile, Ganguly also said that the domestic season of women’s cricket will resume in a month once the number of COVID-19 cases goes down. “We have time for the Cooch Behar Trophy. Let this COVID settle down a bit, we can hold it because it is just at the knockout stage and only a few matches are pending. We can do it in April-May,” said Ganguly.