WIPL 2023: Women’s Premier League to have five teams; Adani gets Ahmedabad with highest bid

In a landmark second for girls’s cricket in India, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) formally introduced 5 groups for the inaugural version of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) on Wednesday.

The Adani Group made the largest bid for the crew from Ahmedabad, splurging Rs 1289 crore.

The 4 others with the largest bids are Indiawin Sports Private Limited (the Reliance group subsidiary), Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals and Capri Global.

RCB chairman Prathmesh Mishra mentioned that the franchise stayed away from bidding for groups on the males’s ILT20 and SA20 leagues to give attention to the WPL. “We held back all our investments in overseas teams to own a team that aligns with this philosophy and core value, and it gives us immense pleasure to have marked this accomplishment positively,” Mishra mentioned.

The 5 groups shall be from Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Lucknow, although the inaugural version of the event is predicted to start in Maharashtra within the first week of March.

The BCCI has raked in over Rs 4669.99 crore, which it can earn over a interval of 10 years.

‘Red-letter day for women’s cricket’

Though 17 entities – together with seven IPL franchises – had submitted the technical bids, 16 turned up for the ultimate bid and three of the prevailing franchises – Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals – managed to efficiently bid.

“It is another red-letter day for women’s cricket after successful media rights and the pay parity between men and women cricketers,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah mentioned.

“This is the highest-valued cricket league in the world. The first is the IPL and the second is WPL…”

Last week, Viacom 18 bagged the media rights for the inaugural five-year cycle, with a successful bid of Rs 951 crore, which interprets to a worth of Rs 7.09 crore per match for the 2023-27 interval.

“We have seen the women’s cricket team perform exceedingly well at the Commonwealth Games and Asia Cup, and after the pay-parity policy, we have done everything to ensure that women’s cricket flourishes in the country,” IPL Governing Council chairman Arun Dhumal mentioned.

While the three current IPL franchises pulled it off, franchises like Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad did take part, however their bids, valued between Rs 180 crore and Rs 666 crore – have been decrease than the highest 5.

“The responsibility lies on us to ensure that the WPL turns out to be on a par with the men’s IPL in the time to come. We take it as a challenge,” Dhumal mentioned.

Rajasthan Royals in a press release, mentioned: “We are obviously disappointed not to have won the bid for a team in this historic inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League.

We always knew there was going to be a lot of competition given the IPL’s success in the men’s format, but still were hopeful of securing a women’s franchise to extend the Royals Family and hope there will be an opportunity to do so in the future.”

The schedule and public sale

Though the event is predicted to start round March 4-24, Dhumal mentioned that discussions are on concerning the venues.

“It’s a work in progress. We will finalise the schedule and dates and see what makes more sense. The Women’s T20 World Cup will be on and we don’t have much of a window, but whatever window will be available, we have to look at the logistical challenges,” the IPL Governing Council chairman mentioned.

The participant auctions are anticipated to be held within the first week of February, between the fifth and the ninth. However, a remaining date is but to be confirmed.

To start with, the event can have 22 matches that includes 5 groups and each crew will have the ability to discipline 5 abroad gamers, with one from affiliate nations.

‘Shine bright’

Nita Ambani was elated to get a crew within the WPL.

“India’s ladies cricketers have all the time made the nation proud within the world sporting enviornment – be it the World Cup, Asian Cup or the latest Commonwealth Games.

This new Women’s League will put world highlight on the expertise, energy, and potential of our ladies. I’m certain our Women’s MI crew will take the Mumbai Indians model of fearless and entertaining cricket to a brand new stage altogether,” Ambani mentioned.

The Adani group had missed out on shopping for a crew within the males’s IPL in 2021, whereas Capri had additionally did not make a profitable try round that point – paving the best way for Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans.

But lastly, each the company bigwigs have been in a position to enter the Indian cricket pitch.