The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has extended the deadline for announcing retentions in the Women's Premier League (WPL) ahead of its third season.
Initially, the franchises had been given a deadline of Tuesday, October 15 to submit the list of players they intend to continue with. However, on Tuesday, the BCCI wrote to the franchises about the postponed deadline. The last date for submission of the list has now been shifted to November 7.
For the unversed, each of the five participating teams can have a squad of 18 members with six overseas players and like in the Indian Premier League (IPL), the teams can let go of players each year. The BCCI is expected to conduct a mini-auction based on the retentions but the date is not confirmed as yet.
It is important to note that the auction purse for the third season has been increased to INR 15 crores. In the inaugural auction ahead of the first season in 2023, the auction purse was INR 12 crores and it was expanded to INR 13.5 crores last season.
After the 2025 edition of the tournament, there could be a mega auction and a new team might be welcomed to enhance the competition. The BCCI, like for the IPL, will have to come up with a retention policy for the WPL as well. Currently, there are only five teams - Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Giants, Delhi Capitals, and UP Warriorz.
BCCI likely to host WPL 2025 in February-March window once again
The BCCI are yet to announce the time and venue of the impending season but it is expected to be in the same window of February-March when the first two seasons were organised. According to Cricbuzz, some franchises are expecting a similar window since the last of the senior women's domestic fixtures wraps up in mid-January.
The first season of the cash-rich league was hosted entirely in Mumbai. However, the BCCI opted to have two venues - Bengaluru and Delhi - hosting the second edition. If reports are to be believed, the third edition could also be hosted in two cities.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are the defending champions as they won the tournament earlier this year after beating Delhi Capitals in the final at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Mumbai Indians, who won the inaugural season, bowed out in the Eliminator this year.
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