This year, women’s matches are expected to have a 7 pm start to grab maximum eyeballs.
Harmanpreet Kaur (L), Smriti Mandhana (R) (Photo: Twitter/@IPL)
The women’s T20 exhibition matches will be once again slotted during the knockout stage of Indian Premier League (IPL 2019) as that is the only window available for these games.
However, this year, women’s matches are expected to have a 7 pm start to grab maximum eyeballs. “Like last year, the sole window we have is during the play-offs. But a lot depends on the election dates,” a BCCI official told PTI.
Last year, during IPL, BCCI had organised a one-off T20 match between Supernovas and Trailblazers, which attracted only a handful of fans at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai as it had a 2 pm start.
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The likes of Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Meg Lanning, Elysse Perry and Suzie Bates were part of the T20 exhibition match but the game was not able to create the buzz that the BCCI hoped for.
“We are waiting for the Election Commission of India to announce the full schedule of the general elections and once that happens we will finalise the schedule for the women’s games,” the official said, before adding, “A 7 pm start on days when the IPL games are not held makes more sense than staging them in the afternoon when not many people are likely to turn up again”.
BCCI is currently mulling over two formats for women’s matches – first, best of three matches between two teams and second, a round-robin stage involving three teams, followed by the final.
“Logistically and even considering the players’ pool we have, the best of three games between two teams seems a lot more doable than forming three teams. The quality of the competition can’t be compromised and that is one of the reasons why a women’s IPL can’t be organised at the moment,” the official added.
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