The BCCI is likely to unveil the names of the five franchises that will contest the inaugural Women’s Indian Premier League (WIPL), and the cities they will operate from, on January 25.

The financial bids of these franchises, currently submitted in sealed envelopes, will be opened on that day. However, the BCCI has pointed out in its tender document that it is “not obliged to accept the highest monetary offer” and will look for ways for the bidders to work towards enhancing the growth of women’s cricket in India.

Last week, the BCCI released the tender inviting bids to own and operate the five franchises in the WIPL, which is likely to be held from March 5 to 23. In the Invitation to Tender (ITT) document, the summary of which has been seen by ESPNcricinfo, the BCCI has pointed out that a single bidder can contest for more than one city.

Ten cities on offer

The BCCI has shortlisted a pool of 10 cities and listed the venues, including their respective capacities, in the tender. The list includes Ahmedabad (Narendra Modi stadium, capacity 112,560), Kolkata (Eden Gardens, 65,000), Chennai (MA Chidambaram stadium, 50,000), Bangalore (M Chinnaswamy stadium, 42,000), Delhi (Arun Jaitley stadium, 55,000), Dharamsala (HPCA stadium, 20,900), Guwahati (Barsapara Stadium, 38,650), Indore (Holkar stadium, 26,900), Lucknow (AB Vajpayee Ekana cricket stadium, 48,800) and Mumbai (Wankhede / DY Patil / Brabourne Stadiums). While three venues have been listed for Mumbai, the BCCI has said one of three grounds will be utilised based on “availability and other factors.”

The current plan to have a pool of 10 cities differs from the one the BCCI had originally submitted to the state associations at its annual general body meeting last year. Back then, the BCCI said it intended to either pick one city from each of the six zones across the country, or hold the tournament in a half-a-dozen cities without proper home bases for the five teams.

Determining the highest bid

Barring Dharamsala, Guwahati and Indore, the remaining seven cities already serve as home bases for the men’s IPL teams. While the BCCI has set no base price, bidders have been asked to quote a price for 10 seasons. Bidders have been given the option of contesting more than one franchise/city, but the BCCI has said the successful bidder will only be given one franchise.

“The stadium with the highest bid amount will be awarded first,” the BCCI said. “Thereafter, the stadium with the next highest bid amount will be awarded.”

In case two of the highest bids for a single venue are equal, the BCCI has said there will be a re-bid. If the highest bids for two venues from two different bidders are the same, the BCCI will have the “discretion to decide the order.” In the case of a bidder raising the top bid for more than one ground, the BCCI has the liberty to decide the venue.

(Cricinfo)