The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has officially announced that the auction for the fifth season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) will take place on October 28. The event is scheduled to be held at the Grand Hyatt in Kochi. Teams were formally notified of the date on Wednesday, September 16, prior to the board’s public media release.
Ahead of the auction, all five franchises are under a deadline of September 28 to confirm their retained and released players. The squad regulations allow for a maximum of 18 players per team, with an overseas quota capped at six. The salary cap for the current cycle remains fixed at INR 15 crore.
The BCCI has also set the schedule for the 2027 edition of the tournament, which is slated to run from January 14 through February 7. While official venue announcements are pending, the league is expected to return to Mumbai and Vadodara, where the fourth season was previously contested. The final of the previous edition was hosted in Vadodara on February 5, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru entering the upcoming term as the defending champions.
Although there has been speculation regarding matches potentially being held in Varanasi at a newly constructed stadium, organizers consider this a remote possibility. WPL sources indicate that any decision to host games at the new facility depends on its readiness and successful testing through domestic fixtures. For the time being, the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai and the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara remain the primary venues under consideration. The report also notes that the information was formally communicated to the five teams on Wednesday (September 16) before the BCCI issued a media release confirming the same.
