New Delhi: The Women's Indian Premier League (WIPL) i.e. Women's T20 Challenge may start early next year, which has already been indicated by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly. Now, BCCI secretary Jay Shah has said that the board is working on starting this tournament "soon". Women's T20 Challenge is played alongside men's IPL but fans believe women deserve their own expanded tournament.
"I want to assure you that BCCI is not only sincere but is taking all necessary steps to start a full-fledged women's league similar to the IPL soon," Shah told Reuters in an email.
"The huge interest among fans and players towards the women's T20 Challenge is an encouraging sign and we are all committed to making it happen."
BCCI was forced to host second half of IPL 2020 in the United Arab Emirates after positive Covid cases started emerging inside the IPL bubble.
IPL 2022 will is most likely to begin by the end of March and Shah said he was confident of hosting the 10-team tournament in India. The mega auction of the 15th season of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 will take place on February 12 and 13.
"The circumstances were different in the last couple of years, and we managed to keep the show going under difficult circumstances by shifting it to the UAE.
"The BCCI is keeping a close watch on the COVID-19 situation in the country and if it is conducive, we will stage the event in India this year and I am pretty hopeful about that."
(With inputs from Reuters)