The Women's T20 Challenge, commonly known as WT20 Challenge, was an Indian

women's Twenty20 Women's Twenty20 is the use of the Twenty20 match format in women's cricket. In a Twenty20 match, the two teams bat for a single innings each, of a maximum of 20 overs. The wider rules and playing conditions are usually the same for both the m ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

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 The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based Professional sports league organization, fr ...

was suggested after the

2017 Women's Cricket World Cup The 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup was an international women's cricket tournament that took place in England from 24 June to 23 July 2017. It was the eleventh edition of the Women's Cricket World Cup, and the third to be held in England (after ...

, where the

India women's national cricket team The India women's national cricket team, also known as Women in Blue, represents India in international cricket. It is governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test ...

finished second. The tournament was first introduced in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, as a single match held in Mumbai prior to one of the men's matches. The match featured teams named

IPL Trailblazers Trailblazers was an Indian cricket team. They were founded in 2018 to compete in the Women's T20 Challenge, which they competed in until the tournament ended in 2022. They won the tournament once, beating IPL Supernovas, Supernovas in the final ...

and IPL Supernovas. In

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, 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 Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

, United Arab Emirates, alongside the rearranged men's IPL. In November 2020,

Board of Control for Cricket in India The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is the principal national governing body of the sport of cricket in India. Its headquarters are situated at the Cricket Centre in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. BCCI is the wealthiest governing body ...

president

Sourav Ganguly Sourav Chandidas Ganguly (; natively spelled as Gangopadhyay; born 8 July 1972), also known as Dada (meaning ''"elder brother"'' in Bengali language, Bengali), is an Indian cricket commentator and former cricketer. He is popularly called the ...

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.

Teams

Tournament results

In the inaugural edition, IPL Supernovas won the match by 3 wickets in a last over thriller. IPL Supernovas beat IPL Velocity by 4 wickets in the second edition and retained their title. In

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, IPL Trailblazers beat IPL Supernovas by 16 runs in the third edition and won their maiden title. In 2022, IPL Supernovas won their third title, beating IPL Velocity by four runs in the final.

References

{{Women's T20 Challenge Defunct cricket leagues Defunct sports leagues in India Recurring sporting events established in 2018 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2022

History

Teams

Tournament results

See also

References