Cricket has become the most connecting sport in India. So, now the BCCI has decided to hold a women’s cricket premier league WPL. One of the main reasons behind this tournament is to inspire the women and glorify the game with some new talents.
However, on the 25th of January, the Indian cricket board picked an amount of Rs 4,669.99 crore windfall from the WPL auction 2023. The amount got generated from the sale of five teams in the inaugural Women’s Indian Premier League, with Adani SportsLine settling out with a massive Rs 1,289 crores for the Ahmedabad team. Now, this is the most expensive franchise in the upcoming season. IPL teams Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi respectively made successful bids of Rs 912.99 crores, Rs 901 crores and Rs 810 crores to enter the WPL. Capri Global Holdings received the Lucknow franchise for Rs 757 crores.
Women’s Premier League 2023:
The WPL auction mentioned that the teams would belong to Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Lucknow. Adani Group will own the Ahmedabad team, while Capri Global will own the Lucknow team. Adanis shelled out the maximum amount for the Ahmedabad team. It emerged as the maximum bidder with a bid of Rs 1289 crores.
There was also the impact of the other franchisees. The Mumbai team was sold for Rs 912.99 crore, and Bengaluru was sold for Rs 901 crores. Team Delhi shelled out Rs 810 crores, while Capri Global had the minimum bid value among the champions of Rs 757 crore for the Lucknow team.
The inaugural event, which will be called Women’s Indian Premier League (WPL), will be played in March in Mumbai at several venues. The cricket contest will run for 18-19 days and end before the Men’s league starts in the last week of March.
BCCI secretary Mr Jay Shah took to Twitter to announce the outcome of the sealed bids. He said, “Today is a historic day in cricket as the bidding for teams of the inaugural WPL broke the records of the inaugural Men’s IPL in 2008. Congratulations to the winners as we garnered Rs 4669.99 crore in total bid. It marks the start of a revolution in women’s cricket and paves the way for a transformative journey ahead for our women cricketers and the overall sports fraternity. The WPL would carry out necessary reforms in women’s cricket and ensure an all-encompassing ecosystem that benefits every stakeholder,”.
Previously this month, the BCCI sold the broadcasting rights of the Women’s Premier League for Rs 951 crore to Viacom18. They will get Rs 7.09 crore in every match value for 5 years. Even without a ball being bowled, the WPL has become the second-biggest T20 league after the IPL. It was realised from the day of the WPL auction. Adanis, who had failed to buy an IPL franchisee when the Lucknow and Ahmedabad franchises were up for sale in 2021, has officially entered into national cricket by securing a women’s team for the Women’s Premier League. Adani Group declared that the team would be named the Gujarat Giants.
Many people were calling the league Women’s IPL, but the BCCI revealed the name on Wednesday. He said that the BCCI had named the Women’s Premier League league. So, let this beautiful journey begin. The 8 franchises in the men’s IPL were sold for 723.59 million USD before the maiden edition in 2008.
IPL chairman Arun Dhumal said in a media interaction, “If you recall, the bids for men’s IPL back in 2008 was lower than this if you calculate based on multiple and factor in the inflation, the valuation is beyond the men’s IPL at that time. It augurs well for women’s cricket,”. Sitting alongside Mr Dhumal; Shah said that the highest calls for each city-based franchise finished up being the most successful ones. “There was a vast difference between bids,” Joy Shah informed.
In fact, in the WPL auction, among the outsiders, multinational sweets and snacks brand Haldiram submitted its bid too on Monday. The board had not set any base price for the sale of teams.
Conclusion:
Before the WPL auction, the BCCI declared that a total of 22 games would be played in the inaugural season, with the top team in the league stage qualifying directly in the final. The second and third-placed teams will battle for a place in the title clash. Each team had a sum of Rs 12 crore at the players’ auction and needed to buy a minimum of 15 cricketers and a maximum of 18. Up to 5 overseas players, including one from an associate, were allowed in the playing XI.
