The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is likely to reveal the names of five franchises that will feature in the inaugural edition of Women’s Indian Premier League (IPL) and the cities from which they will operate on January 25, ESPNCricinfo reported Thursday. . The financial bids of these concessions, currently sealed in envelopes, will open on that day. However, BCCI pointed out in its tender document that it is not “required to accept the highest monetary bid” and would look for ways for bidders to work to improve women’s cricket in the country.
Last week, BCCI had put out a tender to invite bids to own and operate the five WIPL franchises, which will eventually begin March 3 through Match 26. In its Invitation to Tender (ITT) document, BCCI pointed out that a single bidder for more than one city.
BCCI has shortlisted a total of 10 cities and their locations for the tender. The list includes names like Ahmedabad (Narendra Modi Stadium, capacity 112,560), Kolkata (Eden Gardens, 65,000), Chennai (MA Chidambaram Stadium, 50,000), Bangalore (M Chinnaswamy Stadium, 42,000), Delhi (Arun Jaitley Stadium , 55,000), Dharamsala (HPCA Stadium, 20,900), Guwahati (Barsapara Stadium, 38,650), Indore (Holkar Stadium, 26,900), Lucknow (AB Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, 48,800) and Mumbai (Wankhede/DY Patil/Brabourne Stadiums ).
While three sites have been listed for Mumbai, BCCI has said one of the three grounds will be used based on “availability and other factors”.
The current plan to have a 10-city pool differs from what BCCI had submitted to the sport’s state associations at last year’s annual general meeting (AGM). At the time, BCCI planned to either select one city from each of India’s six zones or hold the tournament in half a dozen cities without a proper five-team home base.
With the exception of Dharamsala, Guwahati and Indore, seven other cities serve as home grounds for teams in men’s IPL. BCCI has not set a base price, bidders have been asked to quote a price for 10 seasons. Bidders also have the option to compete for more than one franchise/city, but the board has said only one franchise will be given to a successful bidder.
The stadium with the highest bid will be awarded first. “After that, the stadium with the next highest bid will be awarded,” he added.
In the event that two of the highest bids for a single location prove to be equal, BCCI has said a rebid will take place. If the highest bids for two locations and two bidders are the same, BCCI has the “discretion to decide the order”. In the event that a bidder makes the highest bid for more than one land, BCCI is free to determine the location.
Based on information from ITT, the first three seasons of 2023-2025 will consist of 22 games. In the competition phase, each team plays the other twice (a total of 20 matches) and the table topper advances to the final. Teams finishing second and third will play in an eliminator to decide the finalist.
BCCI has also said that March will remain the window for WIPL. As of the 2026 season, the tournament could feature “33-34 matches”, but the board has not provided details on the format of the tournament.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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