Seven IPL franchise owners will compete for franchises in the upcoming auction ahead of the debut season of the Women’s Indian Premier League (WIPL). According to ESPNcricinfo, the owners will take part in the auction on January 25, when the five franchises will be declared official.
The auction is expected to take place in Mumbai on Wednesday, with the winners determined by a closed-bid procedure. The technical proposals were filed by the groups that control the Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Delhi Capitals before the January 23 deadline imposed by the BCCI.
Among the other reputable organisations that will participate in the financial bids are Adani Group, Capri Global, Haldiram’s Group, Torrent Pharma, Apollo Pipes, Amrit Leela Enterprises, Shriram Group, and Slingshot 369 Ventures Private Limited. Each club will have an auction budget of INR 12 crore to create their teams for the inaugural season.
Four-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), reigning champions Gujarat Titans (GT), and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will not compete for a franchise in the Women’s top-tier tournament.
CSK has previously showed interest in owning a club, however the owners of the team failed to submit information on deadline day and withdrew their proposal. According to sources, the teams will be formally named on January 25, but the BCCI has yet to issue a formal comment on the auction date, which is expected to take place in the first week of February.
Each team will feature seven abroad players, including those from Associate member countries. The governing body of cricket further said that the squad sizes would have to be between 15 and 18. The first edition is expected to occur between March 5 and March 23, after the end of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup ends.
