BCCI announces invitation to own and operate teams in Women's Indian Premier League

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the release of an Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the right to own and operate teams for the inaugural season of the Women's Indian Premier League (WIPL). The inaugural season of the WIPL will begin in early March and once this tournament ends, the men's IPL will follow.

BCCI announces release of ITT for right to own WIPL teams

BCCI secretary Jay Shah released a detailed statement to outline the process that would take place for the submission of bids. The board's statement read, "The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announces the release of an Invitation to Tender for the right to own and operate a team in the Women’s Indian Premier League. The Governing Council of the IPL invites bids from reputed entities to acquire the right to own and operate a team in the Women’s Indian Premier League, through a tender process."

The statement added that the ITT would be available for potential bidders for a non-refundable fee of Rs five lakh until January 21. Any party interested in bidding for the right to own and operate a women's IPL team would be required to purchase the ITT. Meanwhile, the deadline for the ITT for media rights ended on December 31.

BCCI's statement also went on to outline the other eligibility criteria required to bid. "Only those satisfying the eligibility criteria set out in the ITT and subject to the other terms and conditions set out therein shall be eligible to bid. It is clarified that merely purchasing this ITT does not entitle any person to bid. BCCI reserves the right to cancel or amend the bidding process at any stage in any manner at its discretion," added the cricketing board in their statement.

Since the men's IPL has been a great success ever since its launch in 2007, it is believed that the WIPL also would be well-received by the fans. The auction for the men's IPL recently took place, with the franchises shelling out a huge sum of money to buy some of the star players. It is hoped that the women cricketers will also receive similar interest.