The Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024, which will be the second edition of the marquee T20 competition organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), will reportedly be played across two cities in India and NOT in a home and away format as is the case for the Indian Premier League.
According to Women’s CricZone, the WPL 2024 will be played in two cities – Bengaluru and Mumbai. The 5-team WPL is reportedly scheduled to start in the month of February, according to the website.
It bears noting that in April, IPL chairman Arun Dhumal had declared that the board will conduct WPL 2024 in home and away format in the Diwali window with no addition of franchises for the next three years.
Additionally, the same format as the first season of the tournament will be followed in the WPL 2024 where the teams finishing in the top three enter the knockouts with the No.1 team sealing a place in the final while No.2 and No.3 teams battling it out in the Eliminator.
Meanwhile, in a related development, ESPNcricinfo reports that the player auction for the 2024 season of WPL is set to be held in Mumbai on December 9. The website further reports that an additional purse of INR 1.5 crore (approx. $180,228) will be available to each of the five teams in addition to the balance amount left from last auction as well as from player releases.
Overall, 30 slots – including nine overseas – are available to be filled at the day-long auction. Recently, 60 players were retained overall, including 21 overseas by the five franchises, while 29 were released. The amount derived from the releases along with the balance left from last auction will be added to the fresh purse of INR 1.5 crore.
In the inaugural WPL season, teams had INR 12 crore (approx. $1.44m) to assemble squads, an amount which was exhausted by two of the five teams: defending champions Mumbai Indians, and UP Warriorz. Of the remaining three teams, Gujarat Giants had INR 5 lakhs (approx. $6007), Delhi Capitals had INR 35 lakhs (approx. $42,053), and Royal Challengers Bangalore INR 10 lakhs (approx. $12,015) left as balance, ESPNcricinfo further reports.
Note: 1 USD = approx INR 83
