The Women’s Indian Premier League will start this year on March 4 till March 26, replacing the previous competition the Women’s T20 Challenge. The tournament is being launched in response to the massive growth of women’s cricket in India and ever increasing demand for the tournament. A total of 22 games will be played across two venues – Brabourne Stadium and the DY Patil Stadium, in Mumbai.

Women’s IPL 2023: All you need to know

Format

Five teams will compete against each other in a double round-robin league that will then be followed by the play-off stage of the competition.

The competition is scheduled to run across the month of March will fixtures still to be confirmed.

Teams

The teams for the WIPL were decided on January 25 when sealed bids from potential owners were opened. In total, eight of the ten current IPL franchises have expressed interest in owning a team in the league. According to reports, over 30 companies in total declared an interest in owning a team. Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow and Bangalore were the five teams.

Squads

Squads must contain 18 players with a maximum of six overseas players. Playing XIs are allowed to have five overseas players in total but only four from Full Member nations. The fifth must come from an Associate Member nation.

The current salary cap of the squad sits at INR 12 crore (USD 1.5 million). Under-19 cricketers are not allowed to be picked unless they have already played first-class or List A cricket.

Auction

The auction will be held on February 13, with the BCCI releasing the auction list of 409 players. A total of 46 Indians and 163 overseas players will be up for grabs during the auction, with eight Associate cricketers. The five teams have a maximum capacity of 90 slots, with 30 overseas players in contention.

24 players, including 13 overseas players, slotted themselves in the highest bracket – INR 50 lakh – for the auction.

Broadcast Deal

Indian network Viacom18 paid INR 951 crore (US$117.5 million) for the media rights to the inaugural competition making it one of the most valuable T20 leagues in the world. The deal runs for five years from 2023-27 with matches broadcast on the Sports18 TV channel and live-streamed on the JioCinema app.

*Article last updated February 7*