Women’s IPL 2023: Seven IPL franchise owners among 17 entities to bid for teams

Ahead of the inaugural season of the Women’s Indian Premier League (WIPL), seven IPL franchise owners among the 17 entities will bid for teams in the forthcoming auction. The owners will participate in the auction scheduled to take place on January 25, wherein the five franchises will be made official as per reports by ESPNcricinfo.

It is understood that the auction will take place in Mumbai on Wednesday and a closed-bid process will determine the winners. Groups that own the Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Delhi Capitals have submitted the technical bids on the January 23 deadline set by the BCCI.

Adani Group, Capri Global, Haldiram's Group, Torrent Pharma, Apollo Pipes, Amrit Leela Enterprises, Shriram Group, and Slingshot 369 Ventures Private Limited are among the other reputed entities which will be part of the financial bids. Each franchise will have INR 12 crore as their auction purse in order to build their squads for the first season.

CSK, GT, and LSG pull out of the race

Four-time IPL winners Chennai Super Kings (CSK) along with defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) will not take part in the bidding war for a franchise in the Women’s top-tier league. 

Earlier, CSK had expressed their interest in owning a team but the owners of the side did not provide updates on deadline day and pulled out of placing a bid. With the teams officially to be announced on January 25, the BCCI is yet to make a formal statement on the auction date with reports claiming the event to take place in the first week of February.

Each squad will have a total of seven overseas players including those from Associate playing nations. The apex cricket board also added that the squad sizes would have to be between 15 and 18. The first edition is likely to be played between March 5 and March 23 after the conclusion of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.