Wikipedia - Women's T20 Challenge

The Women's T20 Challenge was an Indian women's cricket Twenty20 tournament that was held between 2018 and 2022. The tournament featured three teams, playing a round-robin group followed by a final. IPL Supernovas were the most successful team in the history of the tournament, with three title wins.

The tournament was replaced by a new franchise-based annual T20 tournament, the Women's Premier League, which began in 2023.

History

The idea for a women's version of the Indian Premier League was suggested after the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup, where the India women's national cricket team finished second. The tournament was first introduced in 2018, as a single match held in Mumbai prior to one of the men's matches. The match featured teams named IPL Trailblazers and IPL Supernovas. In 2019, the Women's T20 Challenge was expanded to a three team tournament instead of a one-off match, with a new team called IPL Velocity competing alongside the IPL Trailblazers and IPL Supernovas, in a round-robin format with the top two teams progressing to the final. The 2020 event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and held in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, alongside the rearranged men's IPL.

In November 2020, Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sourav Ganguly suggested an expansion of the Women's T20 Challenge to 7 or 8 teams in 2022. There were suggestions of adding a fourth team for the 2021 season, but this was decided against due to the ongoing issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 event was postponed along with the men's IPL, with no indication of a date for the women's event being played. It was not held at the same time as the rearranged men's event, as the dates clashed with India women's tour of Australia. In March 2022, the BCCI announced plans to start a women's IPL by 2023, with five or six teams in the inaugural edition. The 2022 event took place in May 2022, to coincide with the playoffs of the men's IPL.

In March 2022, BCCI announced a new franchise-based annual T20 tournament starting in 2023 to replace the Women's T20 Challenge, which was later named the Women's Premier League.

Indiens cricketturnering "Women's T20 Challenge" är en årlig Twenty20-kricketturnering för kvinnor i Indien. Turneringen inrättades 2018 av Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) och består av tre lag: Supernovas, Trailblazers och Velocity. Turneringen spelas över ett dubbelrundsystem, där varje lag möter varandra två gånger. Topp två lag efter round robin-fasen går vidare till finalen.

Turneringen har varit mycket framgångsrik och har hjälpt till att höja profilen för damcricket i Indien. Turneringen har också gett en plattform för unga damcricketspelare att visa upp sin talang.

Några av de bästa spelarna i damcricket i världen har deltagit i Women's T20 Challenge, inklusive Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana och Mithali Raj. Turneringen har också sett en rad internationella spelare, som Stafanie Taylor, Deandra Dottin och Marizanne Kapp.

Women's T20 Challenge har varit en viktig turnering för utvecklingen av damcricket i Indien. Turneringen har hjälpt till att höja profilen för sporten och har gett en plattform för unga spelare att visa upp sin talang. Turneringen har också lockat en stor publik, vilket visar det växande intresset för damcricket i Indien.