Reports: BCCI shortlists Bengaluru, Delhi as WPL 2024 venues

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has shortlisted Bengaluru and Delhi as venues to host the second edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL). If the venues get approved, the first set of WPL 2024 games will be played in Bengaluru at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Meanwhile, the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi will host the second set of matches, including the knockout games and the final.

As per the latest reports from ESPNcricinfo, the tournament is scheduled to be contested between February 22 and March 17. The five teams will consist in a total of 22 matches, across the aforementioned two venues. It can thereby help the two surfaces stay fresh for the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) which is reportedly slated to commence from March 22.

After a prolonged wait, the first-ever WPL was established in 2023. All the matches in the inaugural edition of the tournament were held in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. Recently,  BCCI secretary Jay Shah opined that the board is planning to host the upcoming season also in one state to counterbalance the logistical concerns of contesting the event across venues. The BCCI later came up with the idea of contesting the event in two different venues. 

In addition, there were speculations that the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad might host some of the games in WPL season 2. However, the option was withdrawn considering the substantial size of the stadium.  Fascinatingly, the BCCI has no plans to host matches in Mumbai this time.

Mumbai Indians are the defending champions, who have clinched the title in the inaugural edition. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side outplayed the Delhi Capitals by seven wickets in the final. All teams have made some notable acquisitions in the WPL 2024 mini-auction held in Mumbai and are expected to put up a stellar show in the forthcoming event.