Over the past few years, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has faced significant criticism over its non-committal approach towards organising a women's Indian Premier League. On Thursday, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly said that the four-match women's T20 Challenge will take place this year but remained tight-lipped on the prospect of a full-fledged league.
Ganguly said that women's IPL will take place “once the number of women players goes up.”
“The Women’s T20 Challenge will again be back this year in the month of May. Hopefully, in the future, we will be able to host a bigger women’s IPL once the number of women players [player pool] goes up. But this year, the Women’s T20 Challenge will happen during the IPL playoffs,” Ganguly told Sportstar.
Many Indian women cricketers including T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Deepti Sharma have called for the need for women's IPL. In 2021, as many as eight India women's players took part in the Big Bash League in Australia.
Following Ganguly's comments, former England captain Michael Vaughan urged the BCCI President that women's IPL should be a “top priority.”
“A Womens #IPL should be top priority now @SGanguly99!! Let’s get it sorted ..” wrote Vaughan on his official Twitter profile.
{{/usCountry}}“A Womens #IPL should be top priority now @SGanguly99!! Let’s get it sorted ..” wrote Vaughan on his official Twitter profile.
{{/usCountry}}Calls for women's IPL have grown ever since India reached the final of the 2017 ODI World Cup in England. The side had also finished runners-up in the T20 World Cup in 2020, where India finished at the top of their group after defeating Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. However, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side failed to beat the Aussies for the second time in the final.
The women's T20 challenge – featuring three teams – is usually played during the playoff window of the men's IPL. The last year's edition of the tournament was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic - however, a significant number of Indian women players took part in The Hundred and the BBL.