The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BBCI) will unveil the name of the Women’s Indian Premier League (WIPL) franchise names on Thursday (January 17). The inaugural season of the Women’s IPL is set to take place in 2023 as the BCCI plans to give women cricketers a good platform. Alongside the franchises, the BCCI has shortlisted 10 cites to host the tournament.
The financial bids of franchises, currently submitted in sealed envelopes, will be opened on that day. However, the BCCI has pointed out in its tender document that it is "not obliged to accept the highest monetary offer" and will look for ways for the bidders to work towards enhancing the growth of women's cricket in India.
The BCCI had initially released a tender inviting bid to own and operate and five franchises in the WIPL. The WIPL is likely to be held from March 3 to 26, before the start of the Men’s IPL to facilitate the use of stadiums in case there are no multiple stadiums available. 10 Stadiums in contention for WIPL including Ahmedabad, Chennai and Mumbai, with the latter having their stadiums in place for the marquee event. The list includes Ahmedabad (Narendra Modi stadium, capacity 112,560), Kolkata (Eden Gardens, 65,000), Chennai (MA Chidambaram stadium, 50,000), Bangalore (M Chinnaswamy stadium, 42,000), Delhi (Arun Jaitley stadium, 55,000), Dharamsala (HPCA stadium, 20,900), Guwahati (Barsapara Stadium, 38,650), Indore (Holkar stadium, 26,900), Lucknow (AB Vajpayee Ekana cricket stadium, 48,800) and Mumbai (Wankhede / DY Patil / Brabourne Stadiums).
