WPL 2024 To Start In February, Matches To Be Played In One State, Confirms Jay Shah

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah has confirmed that the WPL 2024 will not be played in a multi-city format and all the matches will be hosted by a single city.

The WPL 2024 will be the second edition of the women’s T20 league organized by the BCCI and it was reported that the league will be played across multiple cities in 2024, unlike the inaugural season which was held across three venues in Mumbai.

However, Jay Shah has confirmed that the WPL 2024 will follow the same format as the WPL 2023 and will be entirely held in one city due to logistical reasons.

“Logistics are important and hence we will be holding all the matches in a single state,” Shah said, as quoted by News18.

“It is a joint call between the franchises and the BCCI so the moment we sit together we will decide,” he elaborated.

“In the future, it could be held in states such as UP or Gujarat. Maybe in a few years, teams could have their own stadiums. We will let you know as soon as we decide, but it will be in one state for sure.”

Jay Shah also revealed that the second season of the Women’s Premier League will most likely begin in the second or third week of February.

“Most probably we will start the second season of the WPL in the second or third week of February.”

“As you know 74 matches are played in IPL, we will start it in the last week of March and the final will be played in the last week of May or the first week of June,” he said.

WPL 2024: That speaks volumes about the success – Jay Shah on uncapped Indians getting huge WPL contracts

The WPL 2024 Auction was held on December 9 and two of the most expensive players who were roped in by the teams were the uncapped Indians. Kashvee Gautam was acquired by Gujarat Giants for INR 2 crore and Vrinda Dinesh was bought by UP Warriorz for INR 1.3 crore. Talking about this Jay Shah said:

“As you witnessed today, two uncapped Indian players went for large sums and that speaks volumes about the success of the advent.”

Jay Shah further spoke about India hosting the ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 and said that they will treat it with the same respect and integrity as the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023.

“Just as we do not differentiate between the WPL and the IPL, we will not differentiate between the men’s and the women’s World Cup. We will treat them with the same respect,” Shah said.

Coming back to the WPL 2024 Auction, a total of 30 players were sold during the event out of which 9 were overseas players. Annabel Sutherland and Kashvee Gautam were the joint-most expensive players at the auction as they were acquired for INR 2 crore.