WPL 2026 will run from January 9 to February 5 and will be played across two cities, Navi Mumbai and Vadodara. The announcement for the fourth season of the WPL was made by the league chairman Jayesh George at the start of the auction in Delhi on Thursday.
The DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai – where India recently won the Women’s ODI World Cup final – will start the tournament and host the first leg of the WPL. The league will then move to the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara where the final will be played on February 5. This is the first time the WPL will be played in the January-February window; the first three seasons were played in February-March just before the IPL. This will also be first time the WPL won’t clash with any international fixtures.
Thursday marked the first mega auction for the WPL since the inception of the league in 2023, and the first time right-to-match (RTM) cards were available to teams.
Ten days after the WPL ends, the Indian team will start an all-format tour in Australia, for three T20Is, three ODIs and a Test from February 15 to March 9.
Mumbai Indians (MI) are the defending champions of the WPL and have won two out of three editions so far. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the title in 2024 and Delhi Capitals (DC) had finished as runners-up in all three seasons.