'Make it mandatory for IPL franchise to have women's team': Lalit Modi

The latest edition of Womens T20 Challenge 2022, which was played in between the IPL, saw a total of four matches being played.

The Indian Premier League has emerged to be one of the most popular sporting event across the globe. The fanfare is obvious with crowds thronging the stadiums during matches but the recent bidding for media rights gave a much clearer picture of it's demand and popularity.

Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur pose for a photo with the WT20 trophy (Twitter)

As per an official release by IPL, the media rights were sold for a staggering ₹48,390 crore for a five-year period, starting from 2023.

With the event already extended to a ten-team affair, many are now looking forward on how the cricket body will create something similar for women. Former IPL chairman Lalit Modi sharing his views on the same suggested that all the franchises should have a women's team.

"I didn't see much of IPL women's games this year (Women's T20 Challenge), but I think one of the biggest things they should do is make it mandatory for an IPL franchise to have a women's team," Modi told NDTV on Saturday.

"If an IPL franchise owner is able to have a women's team, you'll see the bench strength in Indian women's cricket go up. You'll see investment in women's cricket by owners who are already making good money now," he added.

The latest edition of Womens T20 Challenge 2022, which was played in between the IPL, saw a total of four matches being played. A total of three teams participated, which played two matches each.

Harmanpreet Kaur-led Supernovas won the tournament.