BCCI planning six-team women's IPL from 2023 - Reports

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is reportedly planning a six-team women's IPL from 2023.

A high-level Governing Council meeting, which had BCCI president Sourav Ganguly in attendance, decided on Friday to put all efforts towards starting an annual T20 tournament for women cricketers in line with the men's IPL.

According to a report in Cricbuzz, the GC members are encouraged by the sponsorships attracted by the ongoing, three-team Women's T20 Challenge.

They are now likely to propose the existing IPL franchises have a women's team as well. If there isn't enough interest, the BCCI will open offers to outside parties.

After the meeting, Ganguly said the proposal will now have to go through the BCCI Annual General Meeting (AGM). He told reporters:

"It has to be approved by the AGM. We plan to start it by next year hopefully."

IPL Governing Council chairman Brijesh Patel said:

"The process (to launch the women’s IPL) has started. It could be a five or six team league."

The BCCI has often been criticized for not trusting the depth of women's cricket in India and expanding the women's T20 Challenge to a full-fledged women's IPL.

The pressure has increased after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Cricket West Indies (CWI) recently announced plans to host women's T20 leagues alongside their men's competitions - the Pakistan Super League and Caribbean Premier League respectively.

Cricket Australia (CA) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are already running flagship women's white-ball tournaments.

No women's IPL this year but T20 Challenge set to start in May

The possible final edition of the women's T20 challenge will be played during the playoffs of the men's IPL i.e. after May 22, with Pune being the host city.

In this regard, Patel said:

"This year, though, there will be four matches for the Women in the IPL, involving three teams around the time of the playoffs. The venue is likely to be Pune."

The T20 challenge wasn't held due to the Covid-19 pandemic last year. Smriti Mandhana-led Trailblazers had defeated Harmanpreet Kaur-led Supernovas by 16 runs to win the 2020 edition.