The opening season of BCCI's Women's Premier League (WPL) is scheduled to get underway on 4 March in Mumbai, with the entire tournament being played in the city's Brabourne Stadium and the DY Patil Stadium.
The final will take place on 26 March, according to an email shared with the franchises by BCCI CEO Hemang Amin.
The auction is set to take place on 13 February in Mumbai with over 1500 players having registered. The final shortlist is expected to be announced over the next few days as the six franchises will look to fill up a maximum of 90 slots among them.
According to a report in Cricbuzz, the WPL will have 22 matches with five off days, the first one being on 17 March and again two days later, the second break, on 19 March. The next two are after the completion of the league stage, on 22 and 23 March. The Eliminator is on 24 March and with the final on 26 March, a Sunday, at DY Patil Stadium after the fifth and final off day on 25 March.
Adani Group, through Adani Sportsline Pvt. Ltd bagged the Ahmedabad franchise, named Gujarat Giants, with the highest bid of Rs 1,289 crore, Indiawin Sports Pvt. Ltd acquired Mumbai franchise with a bid of Rs 912.99 crore.
Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd, JSW GMR Cricket Pvt. Ltd and Capri Global Holdings Pvt. Ltd won the rest of the three teams- Bangalore, Delhi and Lucknow (named as Lucknow Warriors) with winning bids of Rs 901 crore, Rs 810 crore and Rs 757 crore respectively.
Earlier in January, Viacom18 Media Private Limited had won the consolidated bid for media rights (i.e., Global Televisions Rights and Global Digital Rights) of the WPL for 2023-2027, with a winning bid of Rs 951 crore, which translates to a per match value of Rs 7.09 crore.
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