Seven IPL team owners to bid for WIPL teams

Ahead of the inaugural season of the Women’s Indian Premier League, seven IPL franchise owners among the 17 entities will bid for teams in the forthcoming auction. The owners will participate in the auction scheduled to take place on January 25.

It is understood that the auction will take place in Mumbai on Wednesday. A closed-bid process will determine the winners. Groups that own the Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Delhi Capitals have submitted the technical bids on the January 23 deadline set by the BCCI.

Adani Group, Capri Global, Haldiram’s Group, Torrent Pharma, Apollo Pipes, Amrit Leela Enterprises, Shriram Group, and Slingshot 369 Ventures Private Limited are among the other reputed entities which will be part of the financial bids. Each franchise will have INR 12 crore as their auction purse in order to build their squads for the season.

CSK, GT, and LSG pull out of the race

Four-time IPL winners Chennai Super Kings will not take part in the bidding. Along with them defending champions Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants will also not take part in the bidding war.

Earlier, CSK had expressed their interest in owning a team. But, the owners of the side did not provide updates on deadline day and pulled out of placing a bid. BCCI is yet to make a statement on auction date. The teams will be officially announced on January 25,. Reports claim that the event wil take place in the first week of February.

Each squad will have a total of seven overseas players including those from Associate playing nations. The apex cricket board also added that the squad sizes would have to be between 15 and 18. The first WIPL is likely to be played between 5th March – 23rd March.