The women’s IPL, which is set to begin in March 2023 immediately after the Women’s T20 World Cup ends in South Africa in February, will be a five-team affair.

The BCCI revealed its plans to the state associations on Thursday stating that a total of 22 matches will be held in the tournament. Each squad will comprise 18 players with a maximum of six from overseas. Each playing XI can include only five overseas players, with four from full member countries and one from an Associate nation.

The BCCI has identified a “clear 25 days Women’s IPL window in the FTP cycle”.

Each team will play the others twice during the league phase, with the leaders heading into the final. The second finalist will be decided via an Eliminator between the second and third-placed teams.

The Board is undecided about how the teams will be framed and a decision is expected at the AGM on Tuesday.

One option is to sell the teams zone wise — North (Dharamsala/Jammu), South (Kochi/Vizag), Central (Indore/Nagpur/Raipur), East (Ranchi/Cuttack), North East (Guwahati) and West (Pune/ Rajkot) — with matches being held at non-IPL venues.

The second option involves teams being sold city-wise like the men’s IPL, with matches to be played at six shortlisted venues: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Calcutta and Mumbai.

“It will be a challenge to play the WIPL in the home and away format, because with five to six teams it is not possible to have a match every day,” the BCCI said.