Following the pattern of the Indian Premier League 2022, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is open to conducting the entire Women’s IPL in and around Mumbai.
The decision is yet to be finalised, but sources in the IPL Governing Council have confirmed to Sportstar that they are considering this as an option to ease out logistical challenges. With three venues - Wankhede Stadium, Brabourne Stadium and the DY Patil Stadium - available in Mumbai, along with the MCA Stadium in Gahunje, Pune, the Board believes that this would mean less travel for teams.
The tournament is tentatively scheduled for March 3 to 26. And with the IPL set to begin in the first week of April and returning to home and away format, this would mean that the original IPL venues will not be affected in terms of preparation.
Earlier, the BCCI had come up with two options - one, selling the teams zone-wise and holding the matches at the non-IPL centres; second, hosting the games at current IPL venues. However, given that it is an inaugural edition of the WIPL, the Board believes that hosting it in Mumbai would mean a better crowd turnout and the fact that the just-concluded T20I series between India and Australia witnessed record crowds also made the BCCI consider the Mumbai option seriously.
Earlier this year, the entire stage of the men’s IPL was held in Mumbai and Pune, while the playoffs were in Kolkata and Ahmedabad. And looking at that success story, the Board has already reached out to the Mumbai Cricket Association informally to see if the WIPL can be held here.
However, with the BCCI top brass now busy with the men’s IPL auction in Kochi, scheduled to be held on Friday, a decision on this front is expected only at a later stage.
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