BCCI to unveil Women’s IPL franchises on January 25

The Board of Cricket Control for India (BCCI) is set to announce the names of the five franchises that will battle it out for prestige at the inaugural edition of the Women’s Indian Premier League (IPL). BCCI will unveil the franchise names and the operating host cities on January 25.

The BCCI has received numerous applications for owning a franchise in a sealed envelope that will be enclosed on the same day. Each franchise application has a distinct financial bid that will be accepted at the discretion of BCCI. It is not likely that the highest monetary bid will be accepted as BCCI aims to promote women’s cricket across the grassroot level.

Notably, BCCI has shortlisted a pool of ten venues across India where the franchises will operate. The ten venues are as follows:

• Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
• Eden Gardens, Kolkata
• MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
• Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
• Wankhede / Brabourne / DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai
• Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore
• Holkar Stadium, Indore
• Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati
• HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala
• Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium, Lucknow

The BCCI had earlier released an Invitation to Tender (ITT) for owning and operating a franchise at Women’s IPL. The inaugural edition of the much-anticipated Women’s IPL will kickstart on March 5 and conclude on March 23.

The BCCI had earlier planned to pick one city as a host from each of the six zones. However, the scenario now seems to be different after receiving tenders. The BCCI will have complete authority to ascertain the franchise and venues for the championship.

The format of the Women’s IPL will be a round-robin that will be followed by a knockout playoffs stage. Each franchise will play against the other twice in the season. The top two teams will play the Qualifier whereas the third and fourth will play the Eliminator.

The franchises that will be awarded a franchise will certainly earn a huge chunk of revenue. They will get 80% of the central revenue earned through ticket sales and broadcasting rights. It will be interesting to find out the franchises shortly.