As the pressure on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) continues to rise to a start a full-fledged Women’s T20 franchise competition, the board president Sourav Ganguly has hinted at the Women’s Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from 2023. Ganguly claimed that the tournament is at a formulation level at the moment and BCCI want to make it as big and successful as the Men’s IPL. 

Talking to PTI, Ganguly said, “We are at the level of formulation to have a full-fledged WIPL. It is certainly going to happen. I strongly believe that next year i.e. 2023 will be a very good time to start a full-fledged women’s IPL which will be as big and grand a success as men’s IPL.” 

Despite India laying the path and showing the world how successful franchise T20 cricket can be with the start of the IPL in 2008, it has lagged behind in the same as far as women’s cricket goes. In fact, both Australia and England have started franchise-based women competitions like the Women’s Big Bash League and Women’s Hundred but India has not yet followed suit despite many Indian players being the best performers in those leagues. 

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan also commented on the matter on Thursday and urged Ganguly to make it BCCI’s top priority. Earlier this week in an interview with Sportstar, the BCCI president had claimed that the Women’s IPL will happen when the number of women players in the country increase. 

The Women’s T20 challenge is set to return this year. The tournament is a three-team exhibition tournament where every team plays each other once before the final. This competition takes place during the playoffs week of the IPL. It has been happening every year since 2018 but could not take place in 2021 due to COVID-19 forcing the IPL to be suspended mid-way and shifted forward by six months.