BCCI Announces October 28 WPL Auction Date
The next chapter of the Women’s Premier League is officially on the clock.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has informed all five WPL franchises that the Season 5 auction will be held on October 28 in Kochi, with formal communication sent to the teams on Wednesday (September 16). The countdown has begun, both in the boardrooms and in the dressing rooms.
Retention calls and tight lists
Franchises now have a firm deadline: September 28. By then, they must decide who stays and who goes.
Each squad can carry a maximum of 18 players, with no more than six overseas names on the roster. The salary cap for this cycle remains at INR 15 crore, a figure that will force some uncomfortable conversations and some bold calls. Established stars, breakout performers, and high-value overseas picks will all be weighed against balance and budget.
The retention window, as always, will shape the auction far more than any last-minute bidding war. One release here, one surprise retention there, and the entire dynamic of the Kochi event can change.
Mumbai and Vadodara take centre stage again
While the auction spotlight falls on Kochi, the cricket itself is expected to stay on familiar turf.
BCCI is understood to have zeroed in on Mumbai and Vadodara as the venues for Season 5, with the tournament likely to run in the January–February window, mirroring last season’s schedule. The Cricket Club of India (CCI) in Mumbai and the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara have been identified as the definitive hosts.
Both grounds are no strangers to the league. Season 4 unfolded across these two venues, with the final played in the Gujarat city on February 5. The setup worked: compact, intense, and logistically tight. There is little appetite to tinker with a formula that delivered a clean, high-quality tournament.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru arrive as defending champions, and the prospect of them attempting a repeat on the same circuits only adds to the narrative.
Varanasi on the horizon, but not yet
Varanasi has entered the conversation, but only just.
A new stadium is under construction in the city, and there have been suggestions from some quarters to take a slice of the WPL there. For now, that remains a long shot.
Sources within the WPL setup indicate that any move to Varanasi hinges entirely on the venue’s readiness. Before it can dream of hosting a high-profile women’s league fixture, the ground must first pass the test of domestic cricket. Only after successful trial runs would it be considered fit for the WPL.
At this stage, staging league matches there is viewed as a remote possibility rather than an imminent expansion.
So the immediate picture is clear: auction in Kochi, cricket in Mumbai and Vadodara, and a tight window to reshape squads under a firm INR 15 crore cap. With Royal Challengers Bengaluru guarding their crown, the real question now is simple: who will build a squad in Kochi strong enough to take it off them?
