WPL to be held in February with bigger window in home and away format

Women's Premier League (WPL) will be played in the home-away format from the next edition onwards

The Women's Premier League (WPL) will be played in the month of February with a bigger window and in a home-away format similar to IPL, a source in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) informed on Friday.

After the successful denouncement of the first edition of WPL, the league will see further advancements in the coming years. One such step in the direction will be the home-away structure, unlike the first edition. All the matches in the inaugural season happened across two venues in Mumbai from March 4-26.

IPL chairman, Arun Dhumal told PTI earlier this month that WPL will remain a five-team competition for the first three seasons of the league although it will happen in a home-away structure as that was "important for building a fan base".

The BCCI also added that it would be difficult to take the tournament to the tier-2 cities like Indore which do not have a WPL franchise named after it. The discussions are also taking rounds about postponing the league to later in the year, around Diwali, but it is not yet confirmed.

The first edition saw the Mumbai Indians lift the cup in the inaugural season under the leadership of Harmanpreet Singh. Delhi Capitals came up second under Meg Lanning's captaincy.

The future of Indo-Pak World Cup and Asia Cup matches yet to be decided

No decision has been made in regard to the Indo-Pak matches in the upcoming two mega events - World Cup and Asia Cup. The BCCI is waiting for directives from the Indian government on their participation in the Asia Cup and Pakistan's matches in the World Cup to be held in India later this year. The source said all the members are currently in discussion about the same and a final call is yet to be taken.

In a report earlier by PTI, it was mentioned that Pakistan has shown interest in playing in India although only at two venues - Kolkata and Chennai, citing that they have felt safe here on their previous tours. Considering the highly sensitive nature of the matter, a due decision will take its course of time.

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