The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is keen on keeping a completely separate window for the Women's Premier League (WPL). In 2023, the inaugural edition of WPL was soon followed by 16th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL). There was not much turnaround time between the two leagues. But the BCCI is willing to have a gap between the two tournament and hence, is mulling a Diwali window to organise the WPL. Moreover, the second season is also expected to see the introduction of the home and away format for the five teams in WPL.
BCCI Secretary Jay Shah is confident that there is separate audience for the WPL with the way the inaugural season went. He has also clairifed that the Diwali window meant that there won't be two seasons in a year. "We are mulling the possibility of scheduling the WPL, in the home and away format, in the Diwali window; not two seasons in a year but just a different time window," he said while speaking to media on Friday (April 14).
"Women's cricket now has a dedicated audience base and this number will only keep growing as we expect an encouraging turnout at the next WPL," Jay Shah further added. He also highlighted the numbers WPL 2023 garnered and is confident that the fan base and following will only increase in the second season and upcoming years. The inaugural edition of WPL reached a massive 50.78 milion audiences while the RCB vs MI encounter garnered the highest TV Ratings.
"The RCB vs MI was the most watched game with a TVR of 0.41 among all India urban + rural, male + female, 15+ audience. The Gujarat Giants vs RCB match was the second most viewed match with 0.4 TVR. The WPL 2023 bears testimony to BCCI's capability to pull off a first of its kind event, aided by the continued growth trajectory that women's cricket in India is on," Jay Shah added.
