Women's Premier League is the brand new product launched by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). It will be the third major T20 league for women cricketers across the globe after the Women's Big Bash League (Australia) and Women's Hundred (England).
The inaugural WPL season is expected to be played from March 4 to 26 across two venues - Dr DY Patil Stadium and Brabourne Stadium - in Mumbai. The first season will be a five-team affair with teams from Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Gujarat and Lucknow.
Three owners of the men's IPL - Mumbai Indians (MI), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Delhi Capitals (DC) - have bought a team in the WPL. Gujarat Giants and Lucknow Warriors are the two other teams owned by Adani Sportsline and Capri Global respectively.
The broadcasting rights for the Women's Premier League was sold for a whopping amount of INR 951 crore for the first five seasons (2023-27). Viacom18 network bagged the lucrative deal for both television and digital platforms.
The WPL auction is slated to take place on February 13 at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai. A total of 409 players will go under the hammer, 246 Indians and 163 overseas players, including eight players from association member nations, will be available for the auction.
Only 90 players can be picked in the auction with each team allowed to fill a maximum slot of 18 players, including six overseas players (one from the associate nation).
Players are divided into different pools of prices. The highest base price a player can set is INR 50 lakhs and the second category is INR 40 lakhs.
Star Indian players Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma and Renuka Singh Thakur have set their base price as INR 50 lakh. The likes of Shikha Pandey, Harleen Deol, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Devika Vaidya and Punam Raut will start their bids from INR 40 lakhs.
