For many years, Indian women’s cricket has been overshadowed by the immense success of men’s cricket. Female players have had to work twice as harder to carve out their spotlight in the country. Luckily, 15 years after the inception of the men’s premier league, women finally have their place in domestic cricket leagues. A full-fledged women’s premier league for the T20 tournament kicked off on Saturday, 4^th March, at the DY Patil Stadium. The opening teams are Gujarat Giants, who face Mumbai Indians. The Inaugural season will host 22 T20 matches, with the number of teams expected to increase to more than six teams in the fourth edition.

Women’s Premier League Announcement

A women’s premier league has been the topic of discussion for a long while in the Indian cricket scene. In February 2022, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly announced the board’s plan for having the first-ever Women’s Indian Premier League (WPL). The reports were further confirmed in October 2022, when the BCCI announced they would have five teams in the first tournament. The tournament is expected to run through March after the final details were confirmed in January 2023.

Also Read: How to Make the Best Fantasy Cricket Team

Women IPL Auction

The start of the women’s IPL also marked the first-ever women’s premier league auction. In this auction, many players were picked at high costs. Smriti Mandhana was the most expensive player at the auction, besides being the most expensive Indian player. She joined RCB at a whopping Rs. 3.4 crore.

Australia’s Ashleigh Gardner and England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt were the most expensive women IPL players from overseas, and both are all-rounders. Gujarat Giants picked Gardner for Rs. 3.2 crore, while Mumbai Indians contracted Sciver-Brunt for Rs. 3.2 crore.

Overall, 57 Indian players got placed in the five teams throughout the action, with a few slots for overseas players. Fifteen players are Australian, four are South Africans, eight are English, two are West Indies, and one is from the United States.

Schedules

Since there are only five teams, the BCCI wants to limit travel time within the Women’s IPL schedule. Therefore, all games will take place in Mumbai, in DY Patil Sports Academy and Brabourne Stadium. Each stadium will host 11 matches, with the final set in Brabourne stadium. The eliminator game will also take place at the DY Patil Sports Academy. With the first match between Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians being the first-ever game, this marks a new beginning for Indian cricket. On Sunday afternoon, RCB and DC faced off, with UP Warriorz finishing closing with their first game.

Women’s Premier League Broadcast Rights

In January 2023, Viacom 18 got the global media rights for digital and TV for this newly launched tournament. This is yet another significant windfall for the BCCI regarding media rights about the WPL. The contract between BCCI and Viacom 18 lasts five years and is worth Rs. 951 crores. This deal is yet another significant plus for the women’s IPL in India.

The 2023 WPL games will be showing live on Sports18 in India, while live streaming will be through Jio Cinema. Viacom18 owns both platforms; all we can do is anticipate a growing viewership.

Women IPL Teams

After finalizing the Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction, five franchises were confirmed to manage the teams. The pool of team owners jointly invested Rs. 4669 crores, with Adani Group pouring in the most money at Rs. 1289 crore to assume ownership of the Ahmedabad franchise.

Indiawin Sports Pvt Ltd, on behalf of Reliance Industries, paid Rs. 912.99 crores for the Mumbai franchise. GMR-JSW Cricket Pvt Ltd acquired the Delhi franchise with an investment of Rs. 810 crores. Capri Global Holdings acquired the Lucknow franchise for Rs. 757 crores for the two remaining franchises.

The Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd secured the Bangalore franchise for Rs. 901 crores and co-owns the men’s Royal Challengers Bangalore team. With such a huge budget, the WPL is now the second-highest valued women’s sports league after the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) in the USA.

Teams and Squads

The debuting auction for the women’s IPL happened in February 2023, with the five franchises paying enough to build solid squads. Every team maximized their budget, with some spending more on top-class players. Here is a list of the teams and the final squads.

Mumbai Indians WPL

Amanjot Kaur, Heather Graham, Priyanka Bala, Dhara Gajjar, Hayley Matthews, Sonam Yadav, Harmanpreet Kaur, Pooja Vastrakar, Amelia Kerr, Chloe Tryon, Humaira Kazi, Neelam Bisht, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Jintimana Kalita, Yastika Bhatia, Issy Wong, Saika Ishaque. Who do you think are worth keeping in your fantasy cricket list?

Gujarat Giants

Sabbineni Meghana, Ashleigh Gardner, Harleen Deol, Dayalan Hemalatha, Sophia Dunkley, Hurley Gala, Deandra Dotting, Annabel Sutherland, Ashwan Kumari, Sushma Verma, Beth Mooney, Georgia Wareham, Sneh Rana, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, Parunika Sisodia, Tanuja Kanwar, Shabnam Md Shakil.

UP Warriorz

Kiran Navgire, Laxmi Yadav, Devika Vaidya, Soppadhandi Yashasri, Grace Bell, Simran Shaikh, Deepti Sharma, Tahlia McGrath, Shabnim Ismail, Parshavi Chopra, Shweta Sehrawat, Lauren Bell, Alyssa Healy, Anjali Sravani, Sophie Ecclestone, Rajeshwari Gayakwad.

Delhi Capitals WPL

Jemimah Rodrigues, Arundhati Reddy, Meg Lanning, Alice Capsey, Marizanne Kapp, Laura Harris, Sneha Deepthi, Radha Yadav, Jasia Akhtar, Taniya Bhatia, Titas Sadhu, Shafali Verma, Tara Norris, Minnu Mani, Poonam Yadav, Shikha Pandey, Aparna Mondal, Jess Jonassen.

Royal Challengers Bangalore WPL

Smriti Mandhana, Renuka Thakur Singh, Disha Kasat, Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine, Kanika Ahuja, Asha Shobana, Shreyanka Patil, Dane van Niekerk, Erin Burns, Komal Zanzad, Heather Knight, Poonam Khemnar, Richa Ghosh, Indrani Roy, Preeti Bose, Megan Schutt, Sahana Pawar.

Most women IPL players are now household names in the Indian cricket scene. They have played in international T20 matches and won various domestic leagues. Rejoice that these players will be on your screens for the next month as they battle for the WPL title. With bidders paying up to Rs. 3.4 crore for players, this is going to be one of the best seasons for cricket fans. Although there are only five teams now, we will see more in the next season. Depending on how the players perform in the women’s premier league, it will be a good move towards building the depth of the national team on an international level.