2020 Women’s T20 Challenge has been one of the most awaited tournaments of the year. The recent developments have suggested that players have charged themselves for the tournament. BCCI, too, seems to be busy.
In a recent press release, the Indian Cricket Board announced a telecom giant “Jio” as the title sponsor for the 2020 Women’s T20 Challenge. Board of Control for Cricket in India made it public recently that Jio will be the title sponsor for the Women’s IPL. Further, it stated that Reliance Foundation Education and Sports For All (RF ESA) will also support the partnership.
Not only is this update beneficial for economic terms, but the deal is also historic. This is for the first time that BCCI has sold a slot to a sponsor specifically for Women’s games.
BCCI announce Jio as Title Sponsor for 2020 Women’s T20 Challenge 😃 #WomensT20Challenge pic.twitter.com/PV6D3lRs75
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) November 1, 2020
The Secretary of BCCI Jay Shah, on this occasion, said that “We look forward to seeing the great women’s sports stories that will be shared as a result of this initiative. We want to support and create concrete ways to grow the pipeline of women’s talent in Cricket. Our goal with the Women’s T20 Challenge is to build a pathway to a dedicated Women’s’ IPL. Signing an exclusive Title Sponsor for the Women’s T20 Challenge, is a great testament to the property, allowing it to be self-sustainable. We believe Jio and RF ESA as Title Sponsors will be strong partners for the Women’s T20 Challenge”.
There were comments from the board’s president as well. Sourav Ganguly said: “As BCCI grows the game of cricket across all formats, one key area of focus has been to grow the women’s game. We hope the Jio Women’s T20 Challenge will inspire more young girls to take up the sport and give parents the confidence that playing cricket is a great career opportunity for their daughters”.
It is interesting to note that Nita Ambani had her word on the historic deal too. She said that she had a lot of belief in women and their game. She highlighted that women have made the country proud with their game in the recent past. Mrs. Ambani stated her commitment to the growth of the women’s games.
She said, “We aim to ensure that we offer the best of infrastructure, training, and rehab facilities to our girls”.
The women’s T20 Challenge will, now, be known as Jio T20 Challenge. This change has a greater symbolic worth. The times are changing and women are ready.
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A student who enjoys studying cricket more than anything else, keen to learn the insights of the women’s game.