File photo of WPL team captains© AFP
The 2025 Women’s Premier League (WPL) player auction will be held in Bengaluru on December 15, with the third edition of the five-team tournament likely to begin from the first week of February 2025. IANS understands that the names of Bengaluru and Goa were being unofficially discussed as hosts of the WPL 2025 auction. But sources have now confirmed that the auction will take place in Bengaluru, the home city of the defending champions, Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
According to the tournament guidelines, the player auction registration deadline for Indian players is December 4, 5 pm IST. The five franchises each have a budget of INR 15 crore to build their squads for the 2025 season, an increase from INR 13.5 crore in the previous auction. A total of 19 slots will be filled at the auction, five of which are for roping in overseas players. The base price for capped players entering the auction is INR 30 lakh, INR 40 lakh and INR 50 lakh respectively. For the uncapped players, it is INR 10 lakh and INR 20 lakh respectively.
Gujarat Giants, who finished at the bottom of the points table in the first two seasons, have the largest auction purse with INR 4.4 crore. RCB will go into the auction with a purse of INR 3.25 crore, while UP Warriorz enter with INR 3.9 crore in their kitty. Two-time runner-up Delhi Capitals will have a purse of INR 2.5 crore, while 2023 winners Mumbai Indians go in with INR 2.65 crore in their kitty.
Regarding the 2025 tournament schedule, sources further said the anticipation as of now is for the 2025 season to start in the first week of February and finish by March, with no word yet on whether the caravan model for the venues will be followed for the third season.
The inaugural WPL season took place in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, with the second season held in Bengaluru and New Delhi. After 2025, the WPL will shift to being played in the January-February 2026 window, as per the new ICC Women’s Future Tours Programme 2025-29.
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