Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president Sourav Ganguly announced on Sunday that the Women’s Indian Premier League (IPL) or the Challenger series as it is popularly known, will go ahead on time, ending speculations about the governing body not having a plan for the women cricketers.

The men’s IPL is scheduled to be held from September 19 to November 8 or 10 (final date yet to be locked in) in the UAE due to the spike in COVID-19 cases in India. According to Ganguly, the women’s IPL will also be fit in to the same schedule.

The BCCI president, who is awaiting a Supreme Court verdict on waiver of the cooling off period to continue in the position, told PTI, “I can confirm to you that the women’s IPL is very much on and we do have a plan in place for the national team also.” The announcement came ahead of the IPL Governing Council meeting to discuss the tournament’s roadmap today. 

 Although Ganguly did not provide any further details, another senior official privy to the development told PTI that the women’s Challenger will be held during the last phase of IPL like last year.

He said, “The women’s Challenger series is likely to be held between November 1-10 and there could be a camp before that.”

Ganguly also said that the centrally contracted women players will have a camp which has been delayed due to the prevailing situation in the country. He said, “We couldn’t have exposed any of our cricketers — be it male or female to health risk. It would have been dangerous.”

He added, “The NCA also remained shut because of COVID-19. But we have a plan in place and we will have a camp for women, I can tell you that.”