The Women’s Premier League (WIPL) will be played from the next edition in ‘home-away’ format with a bigger ‘window’, possibly in February. A source in the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) gave this information on Friday. The opening leg of the tournament was played from March 4 to 26 across two venues in Mumbai.
Earlier this month, Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman Arun Dhumal told PTI that the WPL will remain a five-team tournament for the next three seasons and will be played in a ‘home and away’ format. Because it’s important to build a fan base.
A BCCI source, however, said that taking the league to tier-2 cities like Indore would be difficult as they do not have WPL franchises to their names.
The source said that the discussion is also going on to postpone the WPL till the end of the year so that it can be held during Diwali but nothing has been decided yet. At the same time, the discussion on the India-Pakistan World Cup venue and Asia Cup venue is still going on.
The BCCI will await further instructions from the Government of India on participation in the Asia Cup 2023 and on Pakistan’s matches in India during the World Cup.
According to the source, all the members are discussing the matter and a final decision will be taken only after that. PTI had earlier reported that most of Pakistan’s World Cup matches could be held in Chennai and Kolkata as the team felt safe at these two venues on their previous tours.
The BCCI is hopeful of appointing the chief selector for the Indian cricket team before the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, which is expected to take place after the ICC World Test Championship final between India and Australia at The Oval in June.
The post has been lying vacant since the resignation of Chetan Sharma in February this year. The BCCI is also confident that India’s premier pacer Jasprit Bumrah will be fit for the World Cup 2023 after being ruled out of cricket due to a back injury.
India will host the 50-over tournament later this year in October-November and the schedule is expected to be out soon. The source also clarified that the board will continue with the policy of not allowing active players from India to participate in various T20 leagues across the world.
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