WPL 2024: Single-city showdown sparks excitement

BCCI secretary Jay Shah announced on Saturday that the second edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) would take place in a single city, similar to the inaugural season.

Shah, who is also the WPL committee's convenor, said the league will start in the second or third week of February, 2024.

There were talks of next year's WPL being played in multiple cities like the IPL. "It is decided that we will have the tournament in February, most probably we will start in the second or third week."

"As far as the venue is concerned, it will be held in one state only so that it is better logistically — what if we do not get two venues in one city, that is," Shah said on the sidelines of the WPL auction.

"Logistics are very important for us this time, next time we can figure it out," he said.

Going deeper into the selection of the WPL venue, Shah said the BCCI has multiple options in front of it.

"We can do it either in Bangalore or in Uttar Pradesh. We have so many venues, even in Gujarat, where we have Ahmedabad, Rajkot and after a few years later Baroda can build their own stadium," he said.

Shah said the governing body will soon have a sit-in with WPL franchises to finalise the venue.

"Basically, it is a joint call between the franchises and the BCCI. We will sit together and decide. But it will be in one state, that is sure."

The BCCI secretary noted that venue selection will have to be done carefully in order not to clash with the domestic matches.

"We will have to see where the venue is available. There are (domestic) matches happening in Gujarat, Chandigarh, Ranchi…it is not that we want to organise (WPL) matches in Mumbai only," he said.

Shah exuded confidence that the WPL will be an even bigger success next year.

"It will be more successful this time. The biggest thing that you saw today (in the auction) was that two uncapped players got such big amounts, especially Indian players."

"The franchises have shown a lot of interest towards the Indian players which is a big thing," he added.