Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Oct 13: Prior to the start of the men’s IPL in March 2023, the eagerly anticipated Women’s IPL will launch with five teams next year. The competition would include 20 league games in which each club will play the other twice, according to a BCCI note reviewed by PTI.
The teams that finish second and third will compete in the Eliminator, while the table toppers will advance through to the championship game. No more than five foreign cricketers from each squad may be included in the starting eleven.
“To have a well balance of domestic and international players and to have competitive teams, it has been tentatively decided to have five teams for WIPL. Each team can comprise maximum of eighteen players where no team can have more than six overseas players,” read the BCCI note.
“Further, no more than five overseas players – four from Full Members of the ICC and one from the Associate Members of the ICC – can be part of the playing XI of each team,” it added.
The maximum squad size for the Women’s Big Bash League in Australia and The Hundred in the UK is 15, and neither league allows more than three foreign players.
The board also believes that the home-and-away format won’t work with a small number of clubs. The occasion is anticipated to occur soon after the Women’s T20 World Cup, which will be held in South Africa from February 9–26. The BCCI office-holders and IPL governing council will make the final decision on all issues pertaining to the Women’s IPL.
With the expansion of the sport in India and the team’s runners-up position in 2017, calls for an IPL-style league for women have gotten louder. While the Hundred was introduced in the UK last year, the WBBL has been played in Australia since 2016.
