Women's Premier League 2023: BCCI Likely to postpone player auction

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after revolutionizing men's cricket is now looking forward to expanding women's cricket. In a historic move, the BCCI announced 5 franchises for the upcoming Women's Premier League on January 25, 2023. As of now, it is being said that the player auction for the inaugural Women's Premier League (WPL) is likely to be held on February 11, 2023, in Delhi or on February 13, 2023, in Mumbai. The BCCI is set to take a final call on it this weekend. 

Before this, it was being said that the BCCI had locked in February 6, 2023, as the date of the auction and it was all set to take place in Mumbai. This would have allowed the five newly made franchises just under a month to put their plans and strategies in place for the event. It is expected that the inaugural Women's Premier League will be played between March 4 and 24.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India is said to have changed



the plan for two primary reasons. Firstly, the majority of the Women's Premier League (WPL) franchise owners have their teams in the ILT20 in the UAE and the SA20 in South Africa. The finals of these tournaments are set to be played on February 11 and 12, respectively. The owners of three IPL (Indian Premier League) teams Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Delhi Capitals, with Adani Group and Capri Global secured the rights of five franchises. All of them paid a cumulative total of INR 4669.99 crore and this happens to be one of the biggest and most expensive deal in women's cricket.

The second reason is that the franchises have a very short time to assemble their coaching staff. Till the time the franchises have a proper coaching staff in place, it will be extremely difficult for them to pick players and assemble their desired squads. It is also being reported that the franchises have collectively requested the BCCI to postpone the auction date.