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Former Indian women's team fast bowler Jhulan Goswami has mentioned that many players wanted to play for Chennai Super Kings in the inaugural edition of the Women's IPL.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the successful bidders for the five WPL teams for the season. Three franchise owners of the men's IPL team added a women's team to their domain.
Owners of Mumbai Indians (for Mumbai), Royal Challengers Bangalore (for Bengaluru), and Delhi Capitals (for Delhi) completed the deal for a women's franchise.
Adani Sportsline Pvt. Ltd., who made the highest bid of INR 1289 crore, and Capri Global Holdings Pvt. Ltd. entered the cricket franchise market after acquiring teams in the cities of Ahmedabad and Lucknow, respectively.
Goswami, who currently works as a mentor for the Bengal women's cricket team, said RCB had their talented scouts on the field before the team auction.
Goswami said during an interaction with Jio Cinema:
"RCB have been planning for so many days because I know a few people doing the scouting in the domestic tournament. So they have some idea about women's cricket and which domestic players perform."
The former Indian cricketer also mentioned that players had desired to don yellow for CSK.
However, the franchise didn't show any interest in adding a women's team, citing strategic business decisions. Goswami believes players will shift their focus from CSK to RCB.
Goswami added:
"A lot of players were asking a few days before on which team they should go for. Many were of the idea to go to CSK and participate for them. But unfortunately, those who were thinking for CSK, now they will be shifted to RCB."
WPL to start in March
On January 16, Viacom18 bagged the media rights for the Women's IPL for a whopping sum of INR 951 crore for the 2023–27 editions. This means that the per-match value in WIPL costs INR 7.09 crore.
The first season of the WPL is likely to be held in March 2023, with the players' auction taking place next month.
It will be a five-team tournament, and each team can play a maximum of five overseas players, one of whom should be from the associated nation, according to reports.
