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Dream11 announces partnership with Mumbai Indians, RCB for ongoing WPL

Fantasy sports platform Dream11 on Friday announced its partnerships with Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the ongoing Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023.

To mark the commencement of the partnership, Harmanpreet Kaur, captain of Mumbai Indians and India, along with her team-mates, cricketers Heather Graham and Yastika Bhatia, visited Dream Sports headquarters in Mumbai.

“We are delighted to partner with Dream11 and believe this association will strengthen viewership and patronage for women’s cricket in India. We look forward to innovative experiences for the fans via this partnership and delivering value to Dream11 through this collaboration,” said a Mumbai Indians spokesperson in an official statement.

The company has also partnered with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the WPL. In 2020, Dream11 was the official partner of the now-defunct Jio Women’s T20 Challenge and has also been associated with ace India batter Jemimah Rodrigues, who plays for Delhi Capitals in the WPL, since 2021.

“Marquee women-centric leagues like WPL will accelerate the growth of women’s cricket. At Dream11, we are focused on enabling the sports ecosystem and our decision to become the official partners of the WPL, and Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore Women’s Teams, are testament to this commitment. We are honoured to support the BCCI in their endeavours and believe our partnership is another step towards making sports better for India,” said Vikrant Mudaliar, Chief Marketing Officer at Dream Sports.

Through its philanthropic arm Dream Foundation, Dream Sports has been supporting female athletes like, Nethra Kumanan, the first Indian woman sailor ever to qualify for the Olympics, and Sreeja Akula, who recently claimed the Gold Medal in the Mixed-Doubles Table Tennis event at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham.

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Anjum, Veda, Zaheer Khan, Aakash Chopra named in coverage panel of WPL 2023

Viacom18, the broadcasters of the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL), announced on Friday that Anjum Chopra, Veda Krishnamurthy, Zaheer Khan and Aakash Chopra will be among the prominent names in their coverage of the tournament taking place from March 4-26.

Other members of the expert panel for the WPL include Punam Raut, Reema Malhotra, Natalie Germanos, Kate Cross, Mel Jones, Venkatesh Prasad, Parthiv Patel, Saba Karim, Pragyan Ojha, and Abhinav Mukund.

The WPL season-opener on March 4 will see Gujarat Giants taking on Mumbai Indians at the D.Y. Patil Stadium. The tournament will be presented in English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu on JioCinema for no cost.

On TV, fans can catch the action live in English and Telugu on Sports18-1 SD & HD, in Hindi on Sports18 Khel, in Kannada on Colors Kannada Cinema, and in Tamil on Colors Tamil.

“We are thrilled to present the first season of the Women’s Premier League across JioCinema and multiple channels of our network. Our efforts are focused on offering viewers an immersive experience which is accessible, affordable, and in multiple languages to scale up the league’s impact and reach.”

“Through our wide-spread coverage, including 4K presentation in English and Hindi, we aim to bring the excitement and competitiveness of the league to millions of sports fans across the country in their favourite language for free on JioCinema. We look forward to an exciting season of top-class cricket and celebrating the incredible cricketers on the field,” said Viacom18 Sports Head of Content Siddharth Sharma, in an official statement.

In the WPL, there are five teams — Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, UP Warriorz and Gujarat Giants. 22 matches will be in all, including the final on March 26 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

All five teams will play each other twice in the round-robin stage. The tournament has four double-header days. Afternoon games will begin at 3:30 pm, while the evening games will start at 7:30 pm.

The team that finishes first on the table will go straight into the final. Teams finishing second and third will play the eliminator; the winner from which will go into the final to meet the top-ranked team.

The full WPL expert panel:

English: Kate Cross, Natalie Germanos, Mel Jones

Hindi: Anjum Chopra, Reema Malhotra, Samantha Lobatto, Zaheer Khan, Aakash Chopra, Parthiv Patel, Anant Tyagi and Saba Karim, Punam Raut, Pragyan Ojha

Tamil: Niranjana Nagarajan, Aarti Sankaran, Abhinav Mukund, Anirudha Srikkanth, Vidyut Sivaramkrishnan, Sudhir Srinivasan, Bagawati Prasad, R Sridhar

Kannada: Veda Krishnamurthy, Karuna Jain, Venkatesh Prasad, Sujay Shastry, Raghavendra Raj, Sumanth

Telugu: Sunitha Anand, Sravanthi Naidu, Sandeep Bavanaka, Vijay Goud, Venkatpathy Raju, Hanuma Vihari, Akshath Reddy.

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Meg Lanning appointed captain of Delhi Capitals for WPL 2023

Australia skipper Meg Lanning was on Thursday appointed as the captain of the Delhi Capitals side ahead of the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL).

At an event organised by the franchise here, India’s top-order batter Jemimah Rodrigues was named as vice-captain of the franchise. Meg, a premier right-handed batter, had recently led Australia to their third straight ICC Women’s T20 World Cup title in South Africa.

She also became the first cricketer to lead the side in 100 T20Is, through the 19-run win over hosts South Africa in the final of 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup at Newlands, Cape Town.

With the title win at Cape Town, Meg also overtook Ricky Ponting for the captain with the greatest number of ICC titles. She had previously captained Australia to 2014, 2018 and 2020 T20 World Cup wins and 2022 ODI World Cup title, apart from a gold medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Lanning is the third Australia player to lead a WPL team, with Beth Mooney captaining Gujarat Giants’ captain and Alyssa Healy being the skipper of UP Warriorz. Mumbai Indians will be led by India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Royal Challengers by her national team deputy, Smriti Mandhana.

Delhi Capitals will be opening their WPL 2023 campaign on March 5 against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

Delhi Capitals squad: Meg Lanning (captain), Jemimah Rodrigues (vice-captain), ,Alice Capsey, Shikha Pandey, Jess Jonassen, Laura Harris, Radha Yadav, Shafali Verma, Marizanne Kapp, Taniyaa Bhatia, Poonam Yadav, Sneha Deepthi, Arundhati Reddy, Titas Sadhu,Minnu Mani, Jasia Akhter, Tara Norris, and Aparna Mondal

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Harmanpreet Kaur named captain of Mumbai Indians side for WPL 2023

Mumbai Indians on Wednesday appointed India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur as the captain of their women’s team ahead of the inaugural season of Women’s Premier League (WPL).

Harmanpreet recently became the first cricketer to play 150 T20Is while leading India’s campaign in recently-concluded Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 and has been with the Indian team for over a decade now across formats, since making her debut at the age of 20 in 2009.

Harmanpreet also holds the record for the highest ever individual score in a knockout game in a Women’s World Cup match (171 not out against Australia in 2017 Women’s ODI World Cup semi-final).

“We are thrilled to have Harmanpreet as the captain of Mumbai Indians’ first-ever women’s cricket team. As the national captain, she has led the Indian Women’s team to some of their most exciting wins.”

“And I am sure that with Charlotte and Jhulan’s support, she will inspire our MI women’s team to play their best cricket, display a sense of pride, and bring even more glory to women in sports.”

“We are so looking forward to the beginning of this new chapter for MI! I can’t wait to see our girls play the fearless and entertaining MI brand of cricket that our fans adore. More power to Harmanpreet and the entire MI team on this exciting journey ahead!” said Nita Ambani, Director of Reliance Industries, owners of the franchise.

Harmanpreet has played against current Mumbai head coach Charlotte Edwards and has played alongside as well as captained mentor and bowling coach Jhulan Goswami. She is also the first Indian women’s cricketer to play in T20 leagues in other parts of the world. Apart from Jhulan and Charlotte, Mumbai also have Devieka Palshikaar and Lydia Greenway as batting and fielding coach respectively.

Harmanpreet will now lead a team that comprises some of the biggest names in women’s cricket and youngsters who are looking forward to showcase their talent in the inaugural edition of the WPL.

Mumbai Indians team also comprises of Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar, Yastika Bhatia, Heather Graham, Isabelle Wong, Amanjot Kaur, Dhara Gujjar, Saika Ishaque, Hayley Matthews, Chloe Tryon, Humairaa Kaazi, Priyanka Bala, Sonam Yadav, Neelam Bisht, and Jintimani Kalita. Mumbai Indians play the season opener of WPL 2023 on March 2 at DY Patil Stadium against Gujarat Giants.

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EaseMyTrip enters an advertisement agreement with Capri Global Holdings Private Limited for five years of WPL

With just a week left for the much-awaited maiden edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), EaseMyTrip, one of India’s largest online travel tech platforms, announced that it entered an advertisement agreement with Capri Global Holdings Private Limited, the franchise owner of the team, UP Warriorz.

The agreement lasts for five years, beginning from the tournament’s first season.

The T20 cricket tournament organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is being looked at as a game-changer for women athletes. The WPL will not only create conversations around the women’s game, but it will also become a pathway for talent. Women cricketers taking center stage will be the cynosure of all eyes. This will inspire younger players to come through the ranks and share the field with the who’s who of the sport, furnishing a healthy grassroots system that keeps producing special performers on the world stage. EaseMyTrip will benefit from millions of views by this association.

Speaking on the development, Nishant Pitti, CEO & Co-Founder, EaseMyTrip, said, “At EaseMyTrip, we consistently display an innovative and maverick mindset. From being the only company in the industry to provide the benefit of no convenience fee charged to all our customers to now being a commercial partner in the pathbreaking endeavor for women’s cricket, EaseMyTrip is becoming a pillar for progress. At the heart of this association is our unwavering support for the WPL and its inaugural season.”

”We are extremely delighted to be commercially engaged in the first edition of a tournament that will become women’s cricket’s biggest brand in the coming years. We are also looking to leverage the brand visibility that has tremendous potential, as millions of fans will be glued to their television sets watching the celebration of talent that the WPL is,” he added.

“Capri Global Holding Private Limited and the UP Warriorz welcome EaseMyTrip into the family in what promises to be an exciting long-term partnership in a revolutionary journey in women’s cricket in India. The unfaltering support from EaseMyTrip will not only pave the way for greater brand visibility but also lay out the red carpet to celebrate and honour the immense talent in women’s cricket,” said Rajesh Sharma, Managing Director, Capri Global Holdings Private Limited.

The initial season of the league will broadcast in India on the Sports18 TV channel and the Jio Cinema app.

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Dream11, CEAT Tyres & Amul announced as Partners for TATA WPL 2023

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday announced the list of partners for the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL), slated to start in March next month.

Earlier, the Indian board had named Tata as the title sponsor for the WPL and it has now announced to have signed Dream11, CEAT Tyres and Amul as other official partners.

The three brands are pioneers and industry leaders in their respective categories and will be associated for three seasons from 2023 to 2025.

“Dream11, the largest fantasy sports platform in the country with a user base of more than 120 million, will be the Official Fantasy Partner of the WPL. CEAT Tyres and the BCCI have extended its long standing partnership and will be the Official Strategic Timeout Partner of the WPL. The underlying ethos of a safe, sustainable and smarter future synergizes with the values and principles of the WPL,” the BCCI said in the statement.

“Amul, the largest in the world in the dairy category, has had a path breaking journey which resonates with the inaugural WPL. As the Official Beverage Partner, fans will be provided with a wide offering of Amul products at all WPL stadiums,” it added.

Notably, the maiden season of WPL will kick-off from March 4 where Mumbai Indians will be up against Gujarat Giants at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.

The final of the cash-rich league will be played at the Brabourne Stadium on 26th March.

“There is rising interest in the inaugural edition of the TATA Women’s Premier League. New partners coming on board is a testament to the quality and popularity that the tournament is set to garner amongst the fans and other stakeholders. We are sure that the league will provide ample opportunities for players to showcase their class and talent. We thank all the partners for their support as we look forward to a fruitful inaugural edition of the TATA Women’s Premier League,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said on the associations.

“The TATA Women’s Premier League is going to be a significant tournament in the cricket calendar and it is wonderful to have the official partners on board. We believe this is a very positive sign for women’s cricket in India and the marquee tournament is going to grow from strength to strength in the years to follow. I thank all our partners for their support on this wonderful journey. We are sure that we will deliver great value to them,” IPL chairman Arun Dhumal said.

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Delighted to name Tata Group as title sponsor of WPL: Jay Shah

BCCI Secretary has announced that TATA Group has bagged the title rights for the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023.

Taking to twitter, Shah shared the development: “I am delighted to announce the #TataGroup as the title sponsor of the inaugural #WPL. With their support, we’re confident that we can take women’s cricket to the next level. @BCCI @BCCIWomen @wplt20.”

The WPL 2023 will begin with a blockbuster clash between Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians on March 4 at the DY Patil Stadium.

In its first season, the WPL will stage a total of 20 league matches and two Playoff games that will be played in a duration of 23 days.

The league, which have five teams — Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore & UP Warriorz — will have its first double-header day on March 5 when Royal Challengers Bangalore will square off against Delhi Capitals at the Brabourne Stadium, CCI while UP Warriorz will play their first game of the league against Gujarat Giants at the DY Patil Stadium.

There will be four double headers with the first match starting at 1530 hrs IST and all evening matches will start at 1930 hrs IST. A total of 11 matches each will be held at the DY Patil Stadium and Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai, the BCCI said in a media release.

The final game of the league stage will be played between UP Warriorz and Delhi Capitals on March 21 at the Brabourne Stadium, CCI.

The Eliminator will be played at the DY Patil Stadium on March 24. The Final of the Women’s Premier League 2023 will be played at the Brabourne Stadium on March 26.

Earlier, the five franchises splurged their purse to acquire some of the best talents in the international and domestic circuit for the inaugural edition of the league.

India’s Smriti Mandhana was the top buy as she was sold for a whopping INR 3.40 crore to Royal Challengers Bangalore. Team India Captain Harmanpreet Kaur was sold to Mumbai Indians for INR 1.80 crore while the rest of the stars from India and around the globe too made the cut in one of the five franchises.

Among the foreign players, Australia all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner and England all-rounder Natalie Sciver were the top buys as they were sold to Gujarat Giants and Mumbai Indians for INR 3.20 crore respectively.

From the India U19 stars, ICC U19 T20 World Cup-winning captain, Shafali Verma was the top buy, sold to Delhi Capitals for INR 2 crore.

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Mumbai, Ahmedabad reportedly to play in WPL 2023 opener on March 4

The inaugural edition of the Womens Premier League (WPL) could begin with a game between Mumbai and Ahmedabad teams facing off in a highly-anticipated opener at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai, on March 4.

As per a report in Cricbuzz, a tentative schedule, being circulated among the relevant authorities of the yet to be launched league, has the Mumbai-Ahmedabad face-off marked for March 4 to kickstart the WPL.

Notably, the two franchises are owned by industrialists Mukesh Ambani and Gautam AdanI.

The report further added that apart from DY Patil Stadium, the CCI-Brabourne Stadium is earmarked as another venue as the historic Wankhede Stadium, the primary venue in the city, is being left for an India-Australia men’s ODI on March 17 and is followed by the IPL, which is likely to start on April 1.

The report added that the return match between Mumbai and Ahmedabad teams in the WPL is scheduled for March 14. In the second match of the tentative WPL schedule, Team Bengaluru will face Team Delhi at CCI on March 5, when a double header has been slated.

Gujarat Giants will return to play on Day Two, against Team Lucknow (named as Lucknow Warriors), at DY Patil Stadium on Sunday night. With the competition between five teams, the report also said three of the five competing sides could make it to the play-offs, with the table toppers directly entering the final. It means that second and third-placed sides will be playing the Eliminator.

The report also added that the WPL, having 22 matches, will have five off days, the first one being on March 17 and again two days later, the second break, on March 19. The next two are after the completion of the league stage, on March 22 and 23. The Eliminator is on March 24 at CCI and with the final on March 26, a Sunday, at DY Patil Stadium after the fifth and final off day on March 25.

Adani Group, through Adani Sportsline Pvt. Ltd got the Ahmedabad franchise named Gujarat Giants with the highest bid of INR 1289 crores, Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd acquired Mumbai franchise with a bid of INR 912.99 crores.

Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd, JSW GMR Cricket Pvt. Ltd and Capri Global Holdings Pvt. Ltd won the rest of the three teams, Bangalore, Delhi and Lucknow (named as Lucknow Warriors) with winning bids of INR 901 crores, INR 810 crores and INR 757 crores respectively.

Viacom18 Media Private Limited had won the consolidated bid for media rights (i.e., Global Televisions Rights and Global Digital Rights) of the WPL for 2023-2027. Viacom18 won the rights with a bid of INR 951 crores, which translates to a per match value of INR 7.09 crores.

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Ahmedabad franchise in WPL to be called ‘Gujarat Giants’

The Ahmedabad franchise in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) will be called ‘Gujarat Giants, the owners — Adani Sportsline, the sports arm of the Adani Group — has announced.

Notably, the Adani Group acquired the Ahmedabad franchise with the highest bid of Rs 1289 crores at the auction held by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday.

It is expected that the inaugural edition of the WPL could be held in March this year while the player auction for the tournament is likely to be held in February.

“The Indian women’s cricket team has been doing exceptionally well — and a cricket league for women is a significant step in creating more opportunities for women through sports,” said Pranav Adani, Director, Adani Enterprises.

The Gujarat Giants cricket franchise in the upcoming Women’s Premier League joins Adani Sportsline’s family of successful teams, like the Gulf Giants in the ongoing ILT20 in the UAE, and the Gujarat Giants in the Pro Kabaddi League.

“Cricket is an inseparable part of the country’s fabric and Adani Sportsline was keen to begin their association with the sport with the inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League. While I wish every other franchise the very best, I look forward to the Gujarat Giants standing out as the top team in this new, exciting league,” he added.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals (RR), the IPL 2008 champions congratulated the BCCI for bringing WPL closer towards turning it into reality.

“We would like to extend our best wishes for this new beginning to all the successful bidders and also congratulate the BCCI on bringing the Women’s Premier League to life. It is a huge step forward for Indian cricket, and will prove to be a game changer for women’s sports across the globe,” the franchise said in an official statement.

The franchise had also bid for a team in the WPL, but were unable to be among the top five winning bidders.

Apart from Adani Sportsline, Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd acquired the Mumbai franchise with a bid of INR 912.99 crores. Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd, JSW GMR Cricket Pvt. Ltd and Capri Global Holdings Pvt. Ltd won the rest of the three teams, Bangalore, Delhi and Lucknow respectively with winning bids of INR 901 crores, INR 810 crores and INR 757 crores respectively.

“That being said, we are obviously disappointed not to have won the bid for a team in this historic inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League. We always knew there was going to be a lot of competition given the IPL’s success in the men’s format, but still were hopeful of securing a women’s franchise to extend the Royals Family and hope there will be an opportunity to do so in the future,” RR said.

Rajasthan remarked they would continue to do their bit of unearthing next generation of female cricketers in India.

“At the Royals, we have been deeply committed to the women’s game and that will continue. We are significantly investing in our new talent hunt ‘Cricket Ka Ticket’ to find the best female cricketers from across the country and provide them with a development pathway to the new Women’s Premier League and hopefully the India team, while our High Performance Centre in Nagpur continues to serve as a hub for both female and male athletes through world-class coaching to aid in their overall progression,” it said.

“With the objective of strengthening women’s grassroots cricket even further, we will also continue to invest in organising and expanding competitions such as the Rajasthan Royals Women’s Cup which can prove to be a stepping stone for potential female cricketing superstars of Indian cricket.”

Our intention is to keep scaling these investments and also look at other avenues to enable the growth of women’s cricket in India, and take it to the next level,” it added.

Earlier, on January 16, Viacom18 Media Private Limited won the consolidated bid for media rights (i.e., Global Televisions Rights and Global Digital Rights) of the WPL for the period of 2023-2027.

Viacom18 won the rights with a bid of INR 951 crores, which translates to a per match value of INR 7.09 crores. It is believed that 22 matches could be held for the first three seasons with a possibility of increasing the matches to either 33 or 34 from 2026 onwards.

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Adani Group, Capri Global win bids to own Women’s League

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced that men’s IPL teams Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore, along with the Adani Group and Capri Global have won bids to own the five Women’s Premier League (WPL) teams.

The inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League is expected to be played in March this year. The home teams of the five winning franchises will be Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Lucknow respectively.

The auction was held in Mumbai earlier in the afternoon. The five winners were revealed after opening the bids. While Adani Group, through Adani Sportsline Pvt. Ltd got the Ahmedabad franchise with the highest bid of INR 1289 crore, Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd acquired the Mumbai franchise with a bid of INR 912.99 crore.

Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd, JSW GMR Cricket Pvt. Ltd and Capri Global Holdings Pvt. Ltd won the rest of the three teams with winning bids of INR 901 crore, INR 810 crore and INR 757 crore respectively.

Honorary Secretary Jay Shah had earlier said that a whopping INR 4669.99 crore came in as total bids for owning teams in the upcoming Women’s Premier League (WPL), which he added has broken the record of the inaugural Men’s IPL in 2008.

“Today is a historic day in cricket as the bidding for teams of the inaugural #WPL broke the records of the inaugural Men’s IPL in 2008! Congratulations to the winners as we garnered Rs.4669.99 Cr in total bid.”

“This marks the beginning of a revolution in women’s cricket and paves the way for a transformative journey ahead not only for our women cricketers but for the entire sports fraternity.”

“The #WPL would bring necessary reforms in women’s cricket and would ensure an all-encompassing ecosystem that benefits each and every stakeholder. The @BCCI has named the league – Women’s Premier League (WPL). Let the journey begin….,” wrote Shah in a series of tweets on Wednesday.

Bangalore, the runners-up of 2009, 2011 and 2016 IPL, tweeted their excitement of owning a Women’s Premier League team. “Breaking barriers, making history, and playing bold! Royal Challengers Bangalore are the proud owners of the Bengaluru Women’s Premier League Team.”

Parth Jindal, Director of JSW Sports, who jointly owns the Delhi team in the IPL with GMR Group, was ecstatic about buying a franchise in the Women’s Premier League.

“Proud to announce that @TheJSWGroup GMR Group and @DelhiCapitals are the proud owners of the Delhi Womens IPL team. This marks a historic moment for Indian cricket and for the women’s game and we could not be more proud to own the Delhi Capitals WIPL franchise!” he tweeted.

Earlier, on January 16, Viacom18 Media Private Limited won the consolidated bid for media rights (i.e., Global Televisions Rights and Global Digital Rights) of the WPL for the period of 2023-2027.

Viacom18 won the rights with a bid of INR 951 crore, which translates to a per-match value of INR 7.09 crore. It is believed that 22 matches could be held for the first three seasons with a possibility of increasing the matches to either 33 or 34 from 2026 onwards.