BCCI secretary Jay Shah confirms that WPL 2024 will take place only in 1 state

BCCI secretary Jay Shah has announced that the second season of the Women's Premier League (WPL) will take place in only one state and listed a few cities. Shah reasoned that the logistical challenges prevent them from conducting the league's fixtures in a home-and-away format.

WPL 2023 took place only at Brabourne and D.Y. Patil Stadium in Mumbai, with the latter hosting the final. Five teams participated in the edition, namely Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Giants, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, and UP Warriorz.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the BCCI Secretary confirmed that the tournament will start in February. As quoted by Sportstar, he stated:

"The tournament will start in February, and in terms of the venues, we will hold it in one state. For us, logistics is very important this time around. Next time, we will figure it out. We have Bengaluru, Uttar Pradesh. There are so many places where we can host matches. In Gujarat also, we can do it in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, and in Vadodara after a few years."

Mumbai Indians, led by Harmanpreet Kaur, defeated Delhi Capitals in the final by 7 wickets. Harmanpreet will return to lead Mumbai in the forthcoming season.

Annabel Sutherland and Kashvee Gautam grab spotlight in WPL 2024 auction

WPL Auctions (Image Credits: Twitter)

Meanwhile, the WPL 2024 Auction on Saturday saw several players go under the hammer. Indian all-rounder Kashvee Gautam became the most expensive uncapped player in the auction as Gujarat Giants, UP Warriorz, and the Royal Challengers engaged in an intense bidding war.

Eventually, Giants secured her services for ₹2 crore. Sutherland, meanwhile, started at a base price of ₹40 lakhs, as Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians fought tooth and nail for her. Eventually, the Capitals won the bid at ₹2 crore.

Vrinda Dinesh and Phoebe Litchfield also fared well in the auction, and were snapped up by UP Warriorz and Gujarat Giants, respectively. Giants, who finished at 5th in the points table, had the maximum slots to fill.