The BCCI is all set to give women’s cricket a boost by organizing a multi-day women’s competition from June 29 in Pune. This star-studded event will feature teams representing six zones- East, West, North, South, Central, and NorthEast – competing in a series of five matches each. The competition will begin soon after the WPL 2024 which will end on March 17.
Beginning with two quarterfinals beginning on March 29, 30, and 31, the championship will soon progress to two semifinals which will be played concurrently on April 5,6 & 7. Finally, the end of the tournament will be unveiled with the grand finale slated for April 9, 10, and 11. However, the identities of the two teams directly seeded to the semifinals remain undisclosed at this time.
This three-day tournament is set to be a significant trial for women players & the BCCI. This is because it will act as a Test to determine whether BCCI can encourage the players to participate in domestic events. The board has issued this measure to ensure that just like male players women players prioritize domestic events like the Ranji Trophy as much as they do for IPL and international cricket.
Indian Women have so far played a few red ball tournaments &, commonly, the BCCI wants to provide a domestic platform for the multi-day matches for the women cricketers.
BCCI aims at reviving Men’s Players interest in red ball cricket
Meanwhile, there are reports of BCCI in consultation with team management to revise annual retainership contracts & increase the remuneration of red ball cricketers. BCCI is planning this move to raise the interest of red-ball cricketers in Test & first-class cricket. The board has noticed that the interest of cricketers has significantly dropped in Ranji Trophy matches after the completion of the IPL auction. This loss in interest & players backing off from domestic tournaments has resulted in the drought of players. As per reports, the board has raised the proposal to raise the fees of players both at the Test & domestic level so that it can match the remuneration of lower mid-level IPL contracts.
It has been noticed that the quality of Ranji Players has dropped significantly since the last three seasons with most of them missing the fixtures by complaining niggles & workload during red ball cricket. This has resulted in the players’ pool drying up significantly & less participation in the Ranji Trophy.
The contracts announced on Wednesday didn’t have the renumeration for players which indicated that the Board is serious about increasing red ball cricketers’ fees to increase their interest in domestic format.
Also read, The Hundred 2024 releases Overseas Players Retention List
