Buoyed by the success of the inaugural TATA Women’s Premier League, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal on Tuesday said that the plan was to introduce the home and away format from season two, but the number of teams will remain five for the next three years at least.
The first ever WPL turned out to be a hit among fans and players but as the tournament was staged within tough timelines and right after the Women’s T20 World Cup, the BCCI decided to organise all the games across two venues in Mumbai.
In an interview to PTI, Dhumal said having home and away games immensely helps teams in building a fan base and the BCCI wants to take that route as early as next season.
“Well begun is half done. It has been a great beginning for WPL and going forward it is going to be much better than what we have seen so far. We have started with five teams but going forward there is scope for additional team given the pool of the players that is going to come in the years to follow.
“We are hoping increase in the number of teams but for the coming three seasons will remain five. We are surely looking at home and away format, we will see which time slot is available considering India’s international commitment and take a call.
“From a fan engagement point of view it is very important that we go for home and away format,” Dhumal told PTI.
Fans turned up in sizeable numbers to watch the games at Brabourne and DY Patil Stadium. The event had garnered massive attention even before the first ball was bowled with the teams rights fetching BCCI close to Rs 4,700 crore, and media rights going to Viacom18 for Rs 951 crore.
“It has been a phenomenal ride so far and quite a challenging one given the time slot we had to start the WPL. We are satisfied with the way things have progressed, we did not have much of window as the World Cup was there and the girls had just about a week to come back and start.
“Everything (media rights, team rights, player auction) happened one after the other but the way tournament was received, it was phenomenal,” Dhumal said.
One reason for not introducing a sixth team right away could be the lack of quality local talent. The world’s best displayed their exemplary skills in the competition but leaving aside Saika Ishaque, Kanika Ahuja and Shreyanka Patil, not many uncapped Indian players were able to turn heads.
“Our national team has done very well over the last couple of years. U-19 girls won the World Cup. Given how the WPL was received, we are very hopeful that we will have a bigger pool of players and their fitness and fielding standard will improve immensely going forward.”
Three out of five teams are owned by legacy IPL franchisees, who have seen the value of the men’s league reach astronomical proportions.
When can the WPL franchisees break even?
“As far breaking even is concerned, those who have invested their money, they have plans in place. Our plan is to generate money and plough it back into the game and get a bigger and better pool of players for India.”
Dhumal said it was also important to give players from associate nations an opportunity in the WPL. USA’s Tara Norris played in the inaugural edition.
Teams can pick as many five overseas players in the playing eleven but the fifth one will have to be from an associate nation.
“This is a global event. It is not India-centric. We have given one slot to associate countries which will help the game grow globally. And their players did well too.”
