New Delhi: The Indian Premier League (IPL) will return to its original, pre-COVID-19, home-and-away format from the 2023 season, BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has conveyed to the Board's affiliated state units. The IPL has been held at only a few venues since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 as the lucrative league unfolded behind close doors across three venues in UAE -- Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi.
In 2021 too, the tournament was held across four venues -- Delhi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Chennai. However, with the pandemic under control, the cash-rich league will return to its old format in which each team plays one home and one away match.
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"The next season of men's IPL will also go back to the home and away format with all ten teams playing their home matches at their designated venues," read a Ganguly's note to state units. The note gave them a "snapshot" of the ongoing domestic season. The BCCI is conducting a full-fledged domestic season for the first time since 2020 and all multi-day tournaments will also return to the traditional home and away format.
Expecting Women's IPL to to start early next year
The BCCI is also working to host the inaugural edition of the much-anticipated Women's IPL early next year. PTI had last month reported that the tournament is likely to take place in March after the Women's T20 World Cup in South Africa. "The BCCI is currently working on the much-awaited Women's IPL. We are expecting to start the first season early next year," Ganguly wrote in the letter dated September 20.
The Women's IPL is expected to raise the standard of women's cricket in India. Besides the the Women's IPL, the BCCI is also launching a girls under-15 ODI tournament. "We are glad to introduce a girls U15 One Day tournament from this season. Women's cricket has seen phenomenal growth across the world and our national team has been performing well. This new tournament will create a pathway for our young girls to play at the national and international level," Ganguly wrote.
The inaugural women's under-15 event will be played from December 26 to January 12 across five venues -- Bangalore, Ranchi, Rajkot, Indore, Raipur, Pune.
PTI
