According to ESPNcricinfo, the upcoming player auction for the 2024 WPL season is scheduled to take place in Mumbai on December 9. Each of the five participating teams will have an additional purse of INR 1.5 crore (approximately US $180,228) at their disposal, in addition to any remaining balance from the previous auction and earnings from player releases.

Auction Details and Team Allocations

In this day-long auction, there are 30 slots to be filled, including nine overseas player slots. Prior to the auction, the five franchises retained a total of 60 players, including 21 overseas players, and released 29. The funds generated from player releases, along with any remaining balance from the previous auction, will be added to the fresh purse of INR 1.5 crore.

During the inaugural WPL season, teams had INR 12 crore (approximately US $1.44 million) to build their squads. Two of the five teams, namely defending champions Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz, had fully utilized their budgets. The remaining three teams, Gujarat Giants had INR 5 lakhs (approximately US $6007), Delhi Capitals had INR 35 lakhs (approximately US $42,053), and Royal Challengers Bangalore had INR 10 lakhs (approximately US $12,015) remaining.

Among these teams, Gujarat Giants, who finished at the bottom of the points table last season, released almost half of their squad and will have the highest purse of INR 5.95 crore (approximately US $714,904), with ten slots available to be filled, including three overseas players. UP Warriorz, who finished mid-table, have INR 4 crore (approximately US $480,608) to fill up five slots, including one overseas player. They are followed by Royal Challengers Bangalore, who finished fourth, with INR 3.35 crore (approximately US $402,509) to fill seven slots, including three overseas players.

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Delhi Capitals, the runner-up from the previous season, will have INR 2.25 crore (approximately US $270,342) to fill three slots, including one overseas player. Mumbai Indians will have the smallest purse among the five franchises, INR 2.1 crore (approximately US $252,319), to fill five slots, including one overseas player.

The WPL experienced immediate success in its inaugural season, with top players from around the world participating, with the exception of players from Pakistan. The tournament consisted of 22 matches and was held at three venues in Mumbai. As of now, the BCCI has not communicated the tournament dates for the second edition, and it is unclear whether the tournament will follow the home-and-away format across multiple venues or take place in a single city, similar to the previous season.

At last year’s auction, seven players received bids as high as INR 2 crore, and three players surpassed the INR 3-crore mark, including Smriti Mandhana (INR 3.4 crore), Ashleigh Gardner (INR 3.2 crore), and Nat Sciver-Brunt (INR 3.2 crore).

The Second Edition of Women’s Premier League (WPL) Set to Be Hosted Exclusively in Bangalore and Mumbai from February 2024, Featuring Five Franchises

Although there has been no official confirmation, Women’s CricZone has learned that the tournament is likely to take place in these two cities. The second edition of WPL is scheduled for February.

The tournament format will mirror the inaugural edition, with the five teams competing in a double round-robin format. The top three teams will advance to the knockout stage, with the table topper heading straight to the final and the other two teams facing off in the Eliminator.

The competition will follow a caravan-style schedule, with all teams completing their fixtures in one city before moving to the other. However, the fixtures are yet to be finalized.

Initially, there were reports that WPL 2024 would adopt a home-and-away format similar to the Indian Premier League (IPL), but it now appears that the tournament will be confined to these two cities. Prior to the tournament, India is set to host England and Australia in Mumbai for a series of matches from late November to January.

Player Retention and Auction

On October 19, the BCCI released a list of players, with the five WPL teams retaining 60 players and releasing 29. An auction is expected in December, allowing teams to add players to their rosters.

In February 2023, WPL finally became a reality after a long wait, with five franchises – Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Delhi Capitals, UP Warriorz, and Gujarat Giants – winning the bids to own teams.

The inaugural edition matches took place at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai and DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Mumbai Indians, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, defeated Meg Lanning’s Delhi Capitals in the final at Brabourne to secure the championship.

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After a comfortable start, two losses now see Mumbai Indians fight for a place in the Final rather than earning a spot straight in the Finals. Their last two games have been disappointing as they dropped down to the back end of the league stage. UP Warriors though picked themselves up well and were rather consistent with some incredible individual performances doing the job for them up until here.

MI-W vs UP-W Match Details

Date: March 24th, 2023

Time:  7:30 PM IST

Venue: DY Patil Stadium

MI-W vs UP-W Weather Report

The Weather at DY Patil Stadium is pretty good for the upcoming game.

MI-W vs UP-W Pitch Report

With short boundaries and good batting, track runs should be easier to come by and batting second will be a better option.

MI-W vs UP-W Head-to-Head

Played- 2 | Mumbai Indians – 1 | UP Warriorz- 1

MI-W vs UP-W Predicted Playing XI

MI-W Playing XI

Hayley Matthews, Amelia Kerr, Harmanpreet Kaur, Priyanka Bala, Yasthika Bhatia, Nat Sciver Brunt, Neelam Bisht, Pooja Vastrakar, Heather Graham, Issy Wong, Sonam Yadav

UP Warriorz Playing XI

Kiran Navgire, Alyssa Healy, Devika Vaidya, Simran Shaikh, Tahlia McGrath, Deepti Sharma, Parshavi Chopra, Grace Harris, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Sophie Ecclestone, Shabnim Ismail

MI-W vs UP-W Key Players

Hayley Matthews

Hayley Matthews has looked good all season and has constantly threatened to take both the orange and purple caps. She is doing wonders with both bat and ball and in a team full of all-rounders that eases the scenario wildly for the players behind her.

Alyssa Healy

Alyssa Healy had a really good World Cup and is one of the best openers going around. She loves taking the bowlers on and with DY Patil stadium offering a lot of help to the batters the prospect of her getting a really good start multiplies.

MI-W vs UP-W Match Tips

Mumbai Indians look likely to make the Final. However, on big occasions, individual performances could make a difference and UP has shown a knack for producing such performances, which could carry them over Mumbai.

Match Prediction: UP Warriorz Win the Match