The 2025 Women's Premier League (WPL) mini auction is set to take place on December 15 in Bengaluru. Each of the five franchises will have a total budget of INR 15 crore, an increase from INR 13.5 crore last year, to build their squads for the upcoming season.
International stars like England captain Heather Knight, New Zealand’s Lea Tahuhu, and West Indies allrounder Deandra Dottin are among the prominent players who will be available for bidding. On the Indian front, allrounder Sneh Rana, legspinner Poonam Yadav, and batter Veda Krishnamurthy are some of the notable names looking for bids.
Delhi Capitals, led by Meg Lanning and runners-up in 2023 and 2024, have the smallest budget of INR 2.5 crore, while Gujarat Giants, who finished last in the first two editions, have the highest purse of INR 4.4 crore to rebuild their squad after releasing seven players.
Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), who have India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana and New Zealand’s T20 World Cup-winning captain Sophie Devine, also released seven players, including Knight, who had missed the previous season due to international commitments. RCB will enter the auction with INR 3.25 crore to spend.
Each squad can have a maximum of 18 players, with up to six overseas players. The pre-season trade window saw England’s Danni Wyatt-Hodge transferred to RCB from UP Warriorz in an all-cash deal. Wyatt-Hodge did not feature for UPW in 2024, with the team finishing fourth.
While the inaugural WPL season was held entirely in Mumbai, the second season's 22 games were split between Bengaluru and New Delhi. The BCCI plans to continue the caravan model by introducing new venues, although there is interest from teams in transitioning to a home-and-away format in the future.
The third edition of the WPL will take place over three weeks in February-March 2025. From 2026, the tournament will shift to a January-February window as per the new women’s Future Tours Programme for the 2025-29 cycle.
Updated on 29th November, 2024 by MyFortune11 Team