The Women’s Premier League (WPL) is back with some updates for its fourth edition. The much anticipated tournament will be preceded by the first ever mega auction for India’s all women T20 cricket league.
The inaugural mega auction is slated to take place on November 27 (Tomorrow). The complete fixture list for the new season will be revealed soon after the auction concludes. The T20 tournament is scheduled to take place early in the month of January 2026, with Vadodara and Navi Mumbai being considered as the leading contenders to host the competition.
What is new this time?
With 2026 marking the first mega auction, franchises are expected to reshuffle their squads allowing for full squad remakes since the inception of WPL back in 2022. Another new element is the Right to Match (RTM) card given to franchises, which teams can use to retain a player from their 2025 roster.
This new feature allows teams to buy back a player from their 2025 squad by matching the highest bid at the auction. Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians, who retained five players each, have no RTM cards, while UP Warriorz, which retained only one player, has four RTM cards and the largest purse.
The auction will kick off with a marquee set of eight star players, including World Cup 2025 Player of the Tournament Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh, Meg Lanning, and Alyssa Healy. The auction pool includes 277 players, with 194 from India and 83 from overseas. There are 73 available slots across the five franchises, with 23 for overseas players.
WPL Auction 2026: When and Where to watch in India?
The auction proceedings will officially begin at 3:30 PM IST. Fans can watch the live telecast of the WPL 2026 Auction on all channels affiliated with the Star Sports Network. Fans in India can also catch the auction’s livestream on the JioHotstar app and website.
Big spending expected
Following India’s recent ODI World Cup triumph, several members of the winning squad, many of whom were released by their previous WPL teams, are expected to be in high demand.
Since the league’s inception in 2023, the WPL has seen some big bidding wars. Notably, world cup champion Smriti Mandhana was the most expensive signing in the inaugural edition of the league where she had signed to join RCB Women for INR 3.40 crore. Mumbai Indians Women star Nat Sciver-Brunt followed closely, earning an impressive INR 3.20 crore contract.
Last year, the most expensive player in the last WPL auction was uncapped Indian all-rounder Simran Shaikh, who was bought by the Gujarat Giants for Rs 1.90 crore. With the mega auction allowing franchises to rebuild their teams, there is much anticipation for big spending in the upcoming competition as participating teams are expected to go all out in the bidding war.
How many franchises are participating in the WPL 2026 Auction?
Five teams are set to participate in the 2026 edition of the tournament namely: RCB Women, Mumbai Indians Women, Delhi Capitals Women, UP Warriorz, and Gujarat Giants.