The Governing Council of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday aproved of the notion of a Women's IPL which will be played in the final weeks of the men's IPL tournament, in the UAE.
The Women's T20 Challenge will comprise of three teams playing four matches and will be played during the playoff week of the men's IPL.
"Women's T20 Challenge will also take place in the UAE and will comprise three teams with four matches to be played during the IPL Playoff week," stated the Board's press release.
This will be the third edition of the tournament with its inception in 2018. In the inaugural edition, there were two teams - IPL Trailblazers and IPL Supernovas. In the second edition, a third team, IPL Velocity, was added. IPL Supernovas won both the editions.
Earlier in the day, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly revealed that "the women's IPL is very much on", although he had proposed the idea of a four-team event to be played from November 1 to 10.
While the notion was welcomed by Indian women's cricket, overseas stars like Australia's Alyssa Healy and Rachael Haynes and New Zealand's Suzie Bates responded otherwise owing to clash in dates with the Women's Big Bash League.
"So during the WBBL.... cool," Alyssa Healy, Australia's wicketkeeper batter, said sarcastically in a tweet. "So the Indian players who've already signed WBBL contracts will do what? And all the international marquee players that will be in Australia for WBBL? Good luck with it.
Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemima Rodrigues, and Shafali Verma are the likely Indian candidates for the WBBL this season.
"The IPL doesn't need the marquee players. It's already large. The women's format however does. The WBBL and BBL don't run simultaneously so why does the IPL and WIPL have to?" questioned Healy.
"If true, it's a shame," said Rachael Haynes in a tweet. "While the game continues to grow, premier domestic competitions do not need to compete against each other. They can be used to showcase the game and support its development around the world."
Meanwhile, veteran Indian cricketer Jhulan Hoswami came in suppoprt of BCCI's decision saying, "I think as an Indian player and looking at the Indian women's game, the BCCI doing this is hugely welcome. We need this for every woman who plays the game in India. These are tough times. And unless our board supports us the game will suffer."
