More WPL teams the merrier, says Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal, wants home- away format

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New Delhi: New teams should be added to the Women’s Premier League to conduct the tournament in a home and away format, Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal said after its mega auction on Thursday.

The Boar of Control for Cricket in India conducted IWL’s first three formats on a caravan format with matches of the five-team tournament held in two to four cities.

This format will will be persisted with in two centres of Navi Mumbai and Vadodara from January 9 but Jundal said “one or two new teams” should be added to move to the “ideal” format like it happens in the Indian Premier League.

“We would love to see the WPL home and away as well, this caravan format is okay, but it’s not ideal. I’m sure that the BCCI is working on it. The amount of time that they get is very short and that’s why in order to, to fit the WPL within this window but I hope we get a bigger longer window for the WPL going forward,” said Jindal, as quoted by PTI.

“And it is imminent that, either one or two new teams will come in at some point. And that’s why I think the cycle is such a short cycle with two WPLs over 14 months.

“So I’m pretty sure that the BCCI is planning on adding a team, and maybe with that addition, we move home and away. That would be ideal for the fans, for the game, and for the growth of the WPL,” he added.

World Cup win a boost

Jindal said India’s recent Women’s ODI World Cup victory will be a major boost for the game and is glad to have invested in the tournament at the right time.

“Three years ago, we all owners took a leap of faith into the women’s game and we’re so thrilled that we did that. And for us, when the bidding happened, we were very clear that this is a spot that is only going to go from strength to strength,” he said.

“I wrote it in one of my tweets as well that this World Cup win in 2025 is the 1983 movement for women’s cricket. The interest in the WPL this season is going to be like it’s never been before.”