BCCI plans to introduce home and away format in WPL from season 2: IPL chairman Arun Dhumal

Following the success of the inaugural Women's Premier League, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal announced on Tuesday that the home and away format will be introduced in season two, but the number of teams will remain at five for the next three years.

The first-ever WPL was well-received by fans and players alike, but due to the tournament's tight schedule and proximity to the Women's T20 World Cup, the BCCI decided to spread all games across two venues in Mumbai.

Dhumal described hosting the WPL as the biggest challenge of his tenure, saying that having home and away games greatly helps teams build a fan base and that the board wants to go 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 flocked to Brabourne and DY Patil Stadiums in large numbers to watch the games. Even before the first ball was bowled, the event drew massive attention, with the BCCI earning close to Rs 4700 crore for team rights and Rs 951 crore for media rights.

"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 a 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 the tournament was received, it was phenomenal," Dhumal said.

One reason for delaying the introduction of a sixth team could be a lack of quality local talent. The world's best performed admirably in the competition, but aside from Saika Ishaque, Kanika Ahuja, and Shreyanka Patil, there were few uncapped Indian players who stood out.

"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 of the five teams are owned by legacy IPL franchisees, who have seen the value of the men's league skyrocket.