Cricket: Women’s T20 Challenge 2022 to take place in Lucknow, says Sourav Ganguly

Board of Control Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sourav Ganguly confirmed that the exhibition Women’s T20 challenge will be conducted in Lucknow from May 24 to 28, reported PTI.

“The Women’s Challenge series will be held between May 24-28 at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium,” BCCI president Ganguly told reporters after an apex council meeting as per PTI.

In March, the BCCI had revealed that it was considering launching a six-team ‘full-fledged’ Women’s Indian Premier League in 2023, but there is yet to be official announcement in that regard.

The BCCI has hosted a Women’s T20 Challenge tournament since 2018. However, IPL chairman Brijesh Patel had stated then that the process to “start” the women’s version of the Indian Premier League was in the pipeline for 2023 and that it is likely to be a five or six-team event. Patel had earlier said four matches involving three teams will take place around the men’s playoffs this year.

The Women’s T20 Challenge tournament was not held in 2021.

Another significant development that took place in the apex meeting on Saturday was that the first IPL play-off and eliminator will be played in Kolkata on May 24 and 26, followed by the second play-off and final in Ahmedabad on May 27 and 29, respectively.

“As far as the men’s IPL knock-out stage matches are concerned, it would be held in Kolkata and Ahmedabad, with 100% attendance allowed for the matches to be played after the league staged finishes on May 22,” he added.

In a press release, BCCI also announced the venues for the upcoming South Africa tour of India comprising five T20 Internationals in the month of June.

(More to follow)