BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday confirmed that the Women’s IPL or the Women’s T20 Challenge is “very much on” to Press Trust of India. With this, the speculation of not having a plan for Indian Women’s Cricket to the BCCI has also ended. The tournament will be played between 1-10 November in the United Arab Emirates with 4 teams.
After getting postponed in March due to the COVID-19 outbreak in the country, the men’s IPL will take place between September 19 and November 8 or 10 (final date yet to be decided) in the UAE. While the detailed fixture is yet to be declared, the Women’s IPL will also be fit into the schedule, as per the BCCI president.
“I can confirm to you that the women’s IPL is very much on and we do have a plan in place for the national team also,” Ganguly told PTI before the IPL Governing Council meeting later on Sunday.
It is understood that the Women’s T20 Challenge will be played during the last phase of IPL like last year.
“The women’s Challenger series is likely to be held between November 1-10 and there could be a camp before that,” the source added.
Earlier the BCCI pulled out the name from the tri-series in England which left everyone surprised as the 2021 ICC Cricket World Cup is around the corner. However, Sourav Ganguly further added that the centrally contracted women players will have a camp which has been delayed owing to the COVID-19 situation in the country.
“We couldn’t have exposed any of our cricketers — be it male or female to health risk. It would have been dangerous,” Ganguly said.
“The NCA also remained shut because of COVID-19. But we have a plan in place and we will have a camp for women, I can tell you that,” Sourav Ganguly concluded.
Alongside Women’s IPL, the BCCI’s cricket operations team has been chalking up a schedule for the team as well. It is also learnt that they will play a series against South Africa before the T20 Challenge and likely to take on West Indies post the T20 league. After that, they are scheduled to tour to Australia for a bi-lateral series before the ODI World Cup in New Zealand, although the official confimation hasn’t come yet.
