Five IPL franchises show interest in buying Women's IPL teams

According to the latest reports, five Indian Premier League (IPL) teams have shown interest in buying teams ahead of the inaugural Women's IPL 2023 (WIPL) season. On Tuesday (January 3), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) invited applications to buy five teams for the 2023 season, which is expected to start on March 3 and conclude before the start of IPL 2023.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK), one of the most successful teams in IPL history, have already picked up a ITT(Invitation to Tender) document in the hope to bid for a WIPL team. CSK's CEO Kashi Viswanathan confirmed that they have applied to buy documents to bid for WIPL teams and are focusing on the economics around it.

“We’ve applied to buy the bid document. Now we’ll have to find out about the economics of it. We are interested. If CSK doesn’t have a women’s team, it may not look good. We’d like to promote women’s cricket,” CSK CEO Kashi Viswanathan told the Times of India (TOI).

Rajasthan Royals' (RR) chairman Ranjit Barthakur also confirmed their interest in picking ITT documents to bid for WIPL team. “We are picking the bid document,” said Rajasthan Royals chairman Ranjit Barthakur.

Apart from CSK and RR, the other three teams to show interest in WIPL teams are Kolkata Knight Riders, Punjab Kings, and Delhi Capitals. However, the BCCI has not set any base price for buying a team in WIPL, which will not discourage the potential bidders. 

More crowd is triggering IPL owners to bid for WIPL teams?

The biggest reason behind the strong interest in WIPL teams is the rapid growth of women's cricket in India. The second T20I match in between India and Australia Women at Mumbai's Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy last month attracted a record 47,000 attendance - a fact that was reported in the media. 

ICC is also conducting the Women's U-19 World Cup which is set to kick off on January 14 in South Africa and then the Women's T20 World Cup 2023 in February. Both tournaments are likely to trigger more crowds and generate a bigger fanbase ahead of the inaugural Women's IPL in March.

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