The fourth season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) is expected to begin sooner than in prior years, with the tournament starting in the first week of January 2026.
The league will now have a designated window in the women’s Future Tours Programme (FTP), and the event will follow a pattern similar to other prominent women’s competitions such as Australia’s Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) and England’s The Hundred for Women. According to reports, the 2026 edition is planned to begin on January 8.
The organisers will not need more than four weeks to hold the premier tournament, which will include only 22 matches. While the actual date of the final is unknown, the tournament is scheduled to conclude in early February. The first three seasons were staged later in the year: Season 1 went from March 4 to March 26, Season 2 from February 23 to March 17, and Season 3 from February 14 to March 15.
According to, the host board is still making decisions about venue allocation. The first season was held in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, while the second season was conducted at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium and the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. In 2025, matches were held in Baroda, Bengaluru, Lucknow, and Mumbai. It is unclear whether the board will decide for an enlarged multi-venue model in 2026.
One of the most anticipated things is the announcement of the player auction. The choice will include not just the date, venue, and wage cap, but also the auction size. After three successful seasons, there is rising anticipation that the BCCI may hold a mega-auction similar to the IPL model. Opinions are divided; one party wants a reshuffle to boost competition, while another advocates continuity to help clubs create stability.
The WPL currently has five franchises: the Mumbai Indians Women, the Delhi Capitals Women, the UP Warriorz, the Gujarat Giants, and the Royal Challengers Bangalore Women. MI, the defending winners, have won two titles, while RCB won the trophy in 2024, led by Smriti Mandhana.
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