India’s cricket board is planning to launch the women’s edition of the Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament next year. Sourav Ganguly, president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said the idea had “to be approved” by the annual general meeting, but the plan was “to start it by next year hopefully”. IPL chairman Brijesh Patel said the process to launch the women’s version had “started” and the league could be made up of five or six teams. Key decisions, including a move to float the media rights tender for the next five years, were taken in the IPL governing council meeting on Friday in Mumbai. India cricket boss says women could get their own IPL ‘soon’ Bids are expected to be invited separately for digital, television and rest of the world rights in a breakaway from the previous term, when Star India paid US$2.55 billion for five years of television and digital rights up to 2022. This time the collective base price from various categories has been kept at around US$4 billion, a senior official said. The money-spinning league is a huge revenue earner for the BCCI. Pre-pandemic, the IPL was estimated to generate more than US$11 billion for the Indian economy each year. The 15th edition of the men’s IPL begins on Saturday, with holders Chennai Super Kings taking on Kolkata Knight Riders in an expanded 10-team extravaganza in Mumbai and Pune.
