5 things to look forward to in the Women's IPL (WIPL)

The Women's Indian Premier League (IPL), or the WIPL, has been in the making for a few years now. Replacing the Women's T20 Challenge, the WIPL finally got the green light from the BCCI with five teams set to take part in the inaugural season, which will be held before the men's IPL this year.

Viacom18 bought the media rights for the tournament for a whopping ₹951 crore, making the WIPL the second most expensive women's league in terms of media rights. The tournament is set to take place in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

With the league being in its embryonic stage, there's plenty to look forward to. Here, we take a look at five things you can be excited about in regard to the WIPL.

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#1 Teams

There's plenty of anticipation around which teams will be part of the tournament. Out of the existing 10 IPL franchises, seven have submitted their formal interest in buying a WIPL team.

Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings, and Royal Challengers Bangalore are those seven franchises.

There are 17 bidders in total for five teams that will be playing in the tournament. Which cities get a WIPL franchise remains to be seen.

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#2 Player pool

The buzz and anticipation for the tournament is real, with players from all around the world registering themselves for the tournament. It's unclear how many players will be taking part in the auction and how many of those get picked.

With only five franchises available, a few players will unfortunately miss out on the inaugural season. While there's no clarification on how many players will be available in the squad, it has been confirmed that a maximum of five overseas players will be allowed in the playing XI.

With the likes of Ellyse Perry, Meg Lanning, Marizanne Kapp, Nat Sciver, and other superstars signing up for the tournament, the anticipation is at an all-time high.

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#3 A large pool of domestic players

One of the biggest USPs of the IPL is its ability to give the upcoming domestic players a platform to showcase their talent on a major stage. Not only that, it also gives them a chance to rub shoulders with the best international players.

India has a large pool of domestic players even in women's cricket. However, the opportunities for these players have been few and far in the middle. The WIPL will certainly play its part and give these players a platform to make a name for themselves.

With only three teams taking part in the Women's T20 Challenge, players got limited opportunities with a limited number of matches. With more teams and a longer season, it will help teams and players to find some consistency.

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#4 Most expensive signings

One of the major talking points of the IPL is the auction strategy of teams. There's plenty to look forward to at the auction table with teams doing their best to construct a solid squad that gives them the best shot at winning the title.

With plenty of big names on show, expect signing records to be broken at the auction table. The likes of Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur will certainly be amongst the most sought-after Indian players, while the likes of Tahlia McGrath and Sophie Ecclestone could also fetch big bucks.

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#5 Response to the WIPL

For a number of years in the build-up to the tournament, there was talk about whether a full-fledged women's league could be sustainable from a monetary perspective. Well, the valuation of media rights has certainly shattered that myth.

The response in terms of buying franchises has been overwhelming and so has been the support of the fans. The recent T20I series between India and Australia made it evident that the fans will turn up in numbers as long as the quality of cricket is high.

The matches at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai saw attendance records broken with plenty of support at the grounds throughout the series. The WIPL will be expected to invoke a similar response, not only in terms of fan presence but also for sponsors and viewers alike.