This year will mark the opening of the first-ever Women Indian Premier League (WIPL) edition , and the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) is leaving no stone unturned to make it a hit.
A few days back, Viacom 18 bagged the WIPL media rights for a five-year cycle (2023-27) at a whopping amount of Rs 951 crore. As per the latest update, BCCI is set to allow five overseas players in the starting eleven in WIPL, but with a condition to follow.
According to a report by Cricbuzz, BCCI has decided to permit five foreign players to play in a match, but it should include one cricketer from an Associate Country.
Notably, International Cricket Council (ICC) has divided cricket-playing nations into two categories which include Full Members and Associate Members. The countries which are permanent members of the council fall under the Full Member category, while the countries where cricket is firmly organized and those who are not permanent members fall under the Associate Members category. There are a total of 96 Associate Members as of now.
Apart from this, BCCI has also decided to set a salary cap of Rs 12 crore for Women IPL 2023. The amount will have an increment of 1.5 crores until the next four years, which will make the amount rise to Rs 18 crore in 2027.
During the five-year cycle, five teams will compete in the first three years, while in the last two years of the cycle, a team will get added, making the count six. The list of five franchises for the first three years will be released on January 25 after a closed bidding process.
The prize money for the league will be Rs 10 crore for the players. For teams, it will be Rs 6 crore for the winning side and Rs 3 crore for the runner-ups. Meanwhile, the third-placed team will get Rs 1 crore. BCCI has made it clear that “100% of the player’s prize money is to be distributed among the players only.”
