The Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 retention dates are expected to be extended by three weeks, as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has expressed. The franchises, at the initial period, were given the date of October 15 to submit their list of players they want to retain for the 2025 season of the league.
However, on that particular date, the BCCI wrote to the WPL franchises about the deadline extension, which for the Indian Premier League (IPL) was set out on October 31. Each of the five teams has a squad of 18 members, including six overseas players.
Just like in the shape of the IPL, each of the franchises can release the desired number of players before each season. The BCCI is expected to conduct a mini-auction based on the retention but, there is no clarity on when that auction will be held.
Last year in the WPL, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women (RCW) won their maiden title of the league, handing the Delhi Capitals Women (DCW) their second successive defeat in the final of the league with an eight-wicket margin at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
BCCI extends WPL Retention Dates Till November 07
The auction purse for the third season of the league is INR 15 crore, having been increased from INR 12 crore in the inaugural edition of the tournament and INR 13.5 crore in the previous edition.
After the end of the third season of the WPL next year, there may be a mega-auction and a new team could be added as the BCCI promised, like for the IPL, and they will have to come up with a retention policy for the women’s premier league as well.
There is no such confirmation on where and when the third edition of the tournament will be played but, it’s expected to be in the same window for February and March, just before the beginning of the IPL, as the last two seasons were conducted.
The franchises have also spilled the beans that they had been expecting a similar window since the last of the senior women’s domestic fixture ends in the middle of January.
The venues are yet to be revealed for the third edition. Just like the second season of the event, the BCCI may look to hold the third edition of the tournament at two venues. The 2024 season was held at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and then at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The first season of the event was entirely conducted in Mumbai, where they played at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy and the Brabourne Stadium.
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Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and UP Warriorz are the five teams where the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side won the maiden season in 2023 before the Smriti Mandhana-led side put the name in the trophy.
The two successful seasons of the league are expected to grab more attention for the new edition as the fans have enjoyed their time in the stadium. The skills of the veteran and young Indian women players have also grown in recent times.