The Women’s T20 Challenge received another big boost this week. The sponsors of IPL 2020 are set to be partners for the Women’s tournament. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that Dream 11, Tata Altroz, Unacademy, Paytm, and CEAT will sponsor the Women’s T20 Challenge.
The third edition of the Women’s T20 Challenge kicked off on November 4. The tournament has the same three teams- Trailblazers, Supernovas, and Velocity. Mithali Raj will be leading Velocity, while Trailblazers and Supernovas will be led by Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur, respectively. Velocity clinched victory against Supernovas in the opening game of the tournament.
The teams will be playing each other once in Sharjah. The two teams with the most points will be playing in the final at the same venue. The WT20 Challenge is a first step taken by the BCCI towards developing a full-fledged league like IPL for women cricketers. Attracting more sponsors and investment may help the board to have a much longer tournament in the future.
Mr. Brijesh Patel, Chairman of IPL, said, “With the Jio Women’s T20 Challenge, we hope to build a pathway to a dedicated Women’s IPL and grow participation of women in the sport. Our Partners from the Dream11 IPL signing with us for the Jio Women’s T20 Challenge is a great testament to the growth of the women’s game and for cricket in India. We hope the Jio WT20C creates heroes for young fans and inspires young girls to take up the sport. We thank all the Partners for their continuous support.”
Arun Dhumal, Treasurer at BCCI, said, “The Jio Women’s T20 Challenge is now financially independent, and this is a very positive sign for women’s cricket in India. Building self-sustainable properties that allow us to develop talent and grow our player pool is essential for us to continue our success in world cricket. The Jio Women’s T20 Challenge will increase the exposure of women’s game to fans, and in the future, a dedicated Women’s IPL will create a new economic opportunity for women in sport. I thank all our sponsors for their support on this journey. We are certain we will deliver great value to them.”