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The inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) player auction is likely to take place on February 13 in Mumbai’s Jio World Convention Centre. However, a final decision is yet to be taken by the BCCI this week.
Earlier, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was looking to host the players’ auction on February 6 in Mumbai. However, they were forced to change their decision as it would have allowed the newly appointed 5 franchisees only less than a month to get ready for the inaugural WPL season.
The board managers are exploring the option of holding the auction at The Jio World Convention Centre, located at the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), in Mumbai, a BCCI official confirmed. The centre is a cultural hub that can host multiple events simultaneously. An IPL insider has confirmed that the Convention Centre would be the venue.
It has been understood that Monday, February 13 has been finalised as the auction date after requests from a few WPL franchisees who own teams in the SA20 in South Africa and the ILT20 in the UAE, as the finals of both these tournaments are scheduled to take place on February 11 and 12, respectively.
The BCCI has accepted the request of keeping the auction after the ILT20 final on February 12, as the owners and support staff of the franchises want to stay with the teams participating in these leagues for the knockouts and also attend the WPL player auction.
The owners of three IPL teams – Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals – along with Adani Group and Capri Global paid a total of INR 4669.99 crore (USD 572.78 million approx) to secure the five WPL franchises in what is the biggest deal in women’s cricket.
Four of the five WPL franchises own teams in the ILT20: MI Emirates, Dubai Capitals, Gulf Giants (Adani), and Sharjah Warriors (Capri). The owners of Mumbai and Capitals also operate teams in the SA20: MI Cape Town and Pretoria Capitals.
The BCCI has decided on two venues – Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai and the DY Patil Cricket Academy in Navi Mumbai – to host the 22 matches that will comprise the inaugural WPL season, which is expected to take place between March 4 and 24.
An important reason for keeping the tournament to one city is the potential logistical challenges for the BCCI due to the WPL starting just days after the end of the Women’s T20 World Cup, in South Africa on February 26.
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