WPL 2027, the fifth season of the Women’s Premier League, will be played from 14 January to 7 February 2027, with five teams contesting 22 matches. The mini-auction to complete squads is on 28 October 2026 at the Grand Hyatt Kochi from 5:30 PM IST, where 146 players are chasing 27 slots.
This is our running guide to the season. We update it every time something is confirmed, and the change log above tells you exactly what is new since your last visit.
WPL 2027 quick facts
| Edition | 5th season (TATA WPL 2027) |
|---|---|
| Organiser | BCCI |
| Dates | 14 January to 7 February 2027 |
| Teams | 5 |
| Matches | 22 (20 league + Eliminator + Final) |
| Format | Double round-robin; 1st goes to the final, 2nd v 3rd in the Eliminator |
| Defending champions | Royal Challengers Bengaluru |
| Most titles | Mumbai Indians and RCB, 2 each |
| Auction | 28 October 2026, Grand Hyatt Kochi, 5:30 PM IST |
| Auction pool | 146 players (119 Indian, 27 overseas) for 27 slots |
| Venues | Not officially announced (see below) |
| Fixtures and match timings | Not yet released |
| Broadcaster / tickets | Not yet announced for 2027 |
WPL 2027 schedule: dates and key milestones
The BCCI has fixed the season window but not the match-by-match fixture list. That means we know the first day and the last day, but not who plays whom, where, or at what time.
The window is the tightest the league has used. WPL 2025 ran from 14 February to 15 March, about a month. WPL 2027 squeezes the same 22 matches into 25 days, so expect double-headers and short gaps between games.
The reason is the calendar that follows. India hosts the inaugural ICC Women’s Champions Trophy from 14 to 28 February 2027, a six-team T20 event. The WPL final on 7 February leaves exactly one week before that tournament starts, and most of the league’s overseas stars will be playing in it.
| Date | Milestone | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Sep 2026 | Retention deadline | Done: 63 players retained, 23 of them overseas |
| 12 Oct 2026 | Tara Norris traded from UP Warriorz to Mumbai Indians | Done |
| 28 Oct 2026 | Player auction, Kochi, 5:30 PM IST | Confirmed |
| 14 Jan 2027 | Season opener | Date confirmed; teams and venue TBC |
| 7 Feb 2027 | Final | Date confirmed; venue TBC |
| 14 to 28 Feb 2027 | ICC Women’s Champions Trophy at Brabourne (Mumbai) and Kotambi (Vadodara) | Confirmed by ICC |
Match start times in IST have not been announced either. The full WPL 2027 time table will be added to this section the day the BCCI publishes it, and the change log will note it.
WPL 2027 format: how the 22 matches work
The format is unchanged from previous seasons. Each of the five teams plays the other four twice, which gives 20 league games and eight matches per side.
After the league stage come just two knockouts. The team that finishes top goes straight into the final. The second- and third-placed sides meet in the Eliminator, and the winner of that game takes on the table-topper. Fourth and fifth are out.
This is harsher than the IPL’s four-team playoff, where the top two get a second chance. In the WPL there is no Qualifier 2. Finishing second or third means you must win two knockout games on the trot, and losing the Eliminator ends your season.
It also makes first place hugely valuable. The table-topper rests while the Eliminator is played and then needs just one win for the trophy. With only eight league games each, one washed-out match or a single heavy defeat that dents net run rate can decide who gets that bye.
Three places out of five go through, so 60% of the league reaches the knockouts. That sounds generous, but the real prize is the top spot, and two losses can be the difference between a bye and a do-or-die Eliminator.
WPL 2027 teams: where all five stand
The same five franchises that started the league in 2023 return. No expansion has been announced for 2027. Here is where each one stands after retentions and the October trade.
| Team | WPL titles | Finals reached | 2026 finish | Players on books (overseas) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 2 (2024, 2026) | 2 | Champions | 13 (4) |
| Mumbai Indians | 2 (2023, 2025) | 2 | 4th | 12 (6)* |
| Delhi Capitals | 0 | 4 | Runners-up | 13 (5) |
| Gujarat Giants | 0 | 0 | Did not reach final | 15 (5) |
| UP Warriorz | 0 | 0 | Did not reach final | 10 (3)* |
*After Tara Norris moved from UPW to MI on 12 October. Retention-day figures were MI 11 (5) and UPW 11 (4).
The league has split cleanly into two groups. RCB and MI have shared all four titles. Delhi have been the permanent runners-up. Gujarat and UP are still waiting for their first final.
Squad rules explain the numbers in the last column. Add the 63 retained players to the 27 open slots and you get 90, which is 18 per team. Add the 23 retained overseas players to the 7 overseas slots and you get 30, or six per team. That is why Mumbai, with six overseas players after the Norris trade, cannot buy another one.
Money works the same way. Teams spent ₹66.85 crore on retentions and have ₹8.15 crore left between them. That adds up to ₹75 crore, or ₹15 crore per franchise.
WPL 2027 squads: team-by-team outlook
Squads will only be complete on the night of 28 October. The full names of every retained and released player are in our WPL 2027 retained and released players list. Here we look at what each squad already has and what it still needs.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
The champions kept the batting spine that won them the title: Smriti Mandhana, Georgia Voll, Ellyse Perry and Richa Ghosh. Shreyanka Patil, Radha Yadav and Arundhati Reddy stay in a bowling group that already knows how to win a final.
Releasing Grace Harris opens one overseas place. RCB have two overseas slots and five spaces overall, so expect them to look for a seam-bowling all-rounder and Indian depth.
Delhi Capitals
Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Laura Wolvaardt, Marizanne Kapp and Annabel Sutherland all stay, along with 2026 Emerging Player Nandni Sharma. On paper, this is the deepest batting line-up in the league.
The release of Lizelle Lee leaves a hole at the top of the order. With just one overseas slot, DC must decide whether to spend it on an opener or a bowler.
Mumbai Indians
The Harmanpreet Kaur, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Hayley Matthews and Amelia Kerr core is intact. That quartet has been central to both MI titles.
Tara Norris adds left-arm swing, but she also filled their last overseas place. MI’s auction is entirely about Indian players, and with the smallest purse they need value buys rather than marquee names.
Gujarat Giants
GG kept 15 players, the most of any side. Sophie Devine, the 2026 Player of the Series and Purple Cap winner, leads an overseas group that also has Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney, Georgia Wareham and Kim Garth.
Only three spaces remain, so Gujarat’s Kochi night should be quiet and targeted. Their challenge is turning star power into a first final.
UP Warriorz
UPW made the biggest changes, releasing nine players including Deandra Dottin and Chloe Tryon. Meg Lanning, Sophie Ecclestone, Phoebe Litchfield and Deepti Sharma give them a strong base.
They arrive in Kochi with the most money and the most spaces. Whatever happens at the auction, the UPW squad is the one most likely to look different in January.
Full squads for all five teams will be added to this section, in tables, within hours of the auction ending.
WPL 2027 venues: what is confirmed and what is not
Short answer: the BCCI has not officially announced the WPL 2027 venues. What we have are reports, and we will flag them as such until an official release arrives.
| Venue | City | WPL history | Status (20 Oct 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brabourne Stadium (CCI) | Mumbai | Hosted matches in 2023; staged the 2025 Eliminator and final | Reported as confirmed after the WPL Governing Council met in September; no official BCCI release yet |
| Kotambi Stadium (Vadodara International Cricket Stadium) | Vadodara | Opened the 2025 season; hosted the 2026 final | In contention for the second slot |
| New international stadium, Ganjari | Varanasi | None; would be a new WPL city | In contention; depends on BCCI inspection and readiness |
The league has moved around a lot. The 2023 season was played entirely in Mumbai. In 2024 it shifted to Bengaluru and Delhi. In 2025 it used four cities: Vadodara, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Mumbai.
A two-city model makes sense for a 25-day window. Fewer flights mean more recovery time between the double-headers that a compressed schedule will need.
Varanasi is the wildcard. If it is ready, UP Warriorz would finally get a venue in their own state. But the stadium is still being finished, and reports say the BCCI wants a domestic match there as a test event before it signs off.
WPL 2027 auction: date, time and the numbers
This is a mini-auction, not a mega one. The big reshuffle happened before WPL 2026, so teams kept their cores at the 28 September deadline and Kochi is about filling specific gaps.
| Date and time | 28 October 2026, 5:30 PM IST |
|---|---|
| Venue | Grand Hyatt Kochi |
| Players in pool | 146: 119 Indian (22 capped, 97 uncapped) and 27 overseas (14 capped, 13 uncapped) |
| Slots | 27: 20 Indian, 7 overseas |
| Highest base price | ₹50 lakh: Sophia Dunkley (England), Sophie Molineux (Australia) |
| Biggest purse | UP Warriorz, ₹3.75 crore (post-trade) |
| Smallest purse | Mumbai Indians, ₹90 lakh |
Compare that with the first auction in February 2023, when each franchise had ₹12 crore to build an entire squad. Smriti Mandhana went to RCB for ₹3.4 crore that day, a sum larger than any team’s purse this time.
The ratio is the real story. There are more than five players in the pool for every slot, and only seven overseas places for 27 overseas players. Plenty of well-known names will go unsold.
For team-wise purse, slot breakdowns and bidding rules, read our WPL 2027 auction guide with date, time, venue, purse and slots. The full pool, sorted by base price, is in the WPL 2027 auction player list with all 146 players.
WPL records and history: 2023 to 2026
Four seasons in, the WPL already has clear patterns. The table below covers the finals and the two cap races. For the full champions record, see our WPL winners list from 2023 to 2027.
| Season | Final | Orange Cap (runs) | Purple Cap (wickets) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | MI beat DC by 7 wickets, Mumbai | Meg Lanning (DC), 345 | Hayley Matthews (MI), 16 |
| 2024 | RCB beat DC by 8 wickets, Delhi | Ellyse Perry (RCB), 347 | Shreyanka Patil (RCB), 13 |
| 2025 | MI beat DC by 8 runs, Brabourne | Nat Sciver-Brunt (MI), 523 | Amelia Kerr (MI), 18 |
| 2026 | RCB beat DC by 6 wickets, Vadodara | Smriti Mandhana (RCB), 377 | Sophie Devine (GG), 17 |
No one has defended the title. The trophy has alternated: MI, RCB, MI, RCB. RCB arrive in 2027 trying to do what nobody has managed so far.
Champions own the caps. In three of four seasons, the Orange Cap went to a player from the title-winning side. Devine in 2026 is the only Purple Cap winner from a team that did not make the final.
Sciver-Brunt’s 2025 is the benchmark. Her 523 runs are the most in a WPL season, and she also took 12 wickets on the way to the MVP award.
Delhi’s run is unique. Four finals, four defeats, by margins ranging from 8 runs to 8 wickets. Captain Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp all return for a fifth attempt.
WPL 2026 recap: why RCB start as the team to beat
RCB beat Delhi Capitals by six wickets in the 2026 final at Vadodara on 5 February. DC made 203 for 4, the biggest total ever posted in a WPL final, and RCB still got there with two balls to spare.
That chase of 204 is the highest successful chase in WPL history. RCB lost Grace Harris early, and then Mandhana and Voll put on 165, a record stand for the league. Mandhana made 87 off 41 balls and Voll 79 off 54.
| WPL 2026 headline | Detail |
|---|---|
| Champions | Royal Challengers Bengaluru (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | Delhi Capitals (4th straight final defeat) |
| Final result | DC 203/4; RCB 204/4 in 19.4 overs, won by 6 wickets |
| Final venue | Kotambi Stadium, Vadodara |
| Orange Cap | Smriti Mandhana (RCB), 377 runs |
| Purple Cap | Sophie Devine (GG), 17 wickets |
| Player of the Series | Sophie Devine (GG) |
| Emerging Player | Nandni Sharma (DC) |
| Record stand | 165, Mandhana and Georgia Voll (final) |
| Prize money | ₹6 crore to the winners, ₹3 crore to the runners-up |
What makes RCB dangerous in 2027 is that the final pair are both still there. Mandhana and Voll, Perry and Ghosh all return, so the batting that chased 204 is intact.
The other lesson is for Delhi. Posting a record score in a final was not enough. Their bowling at the death, not their batting, is the area they most need to fix.
How to follow WPL 2027: TV, live streaming and tickets
None of these has been announced for 2027. The 2026 final was shown on the Star Sports Network, but we will not assume the same arrangement until the BCCI or the broadcaster confirms it.
Ticket prices, the ticketing partner and the sale date are also unannounced. WPL tickets are normally sold online through a partner the BCCI names, so the first official word will come from the league itself.
When sales open, here is what to do:
- Check the official WPL website or the BCCI’s social channels for the named ticketing partner. Avoid resale links that appear before an official announcement.
- Confirm which venue your match is at, since a two-city schedule may move your team between Mumbai and the second venue.
- Book double-header days early. Two matches for one ticket price tends to draw the biggest crowds.
- Keep the Champions Trophy in mind. Brabourne and Kotambi stage that event from 14 February, so fans in Mumbai and Vadodara could get a month of top women’s cricket on their doorstep.
We will add the broadcaster, streaming app, match timings in IST and booking links here as soon as each is confirmed, and log the change at the top.
iSportsLeague take
Why this page is a living guide. At least five big pieces of WPL 2027 are still missing: final squads, venues, fixtures, broadcaster and tickets. Most sites will publish a fresh article for each. We would rather build one page that grows, with a dated log, so you check one place and see exactly what changed.
Our auction calculation: the most each team can bid on one player. Every player in the pool has a base price of at least ₹10 lakh. So a team’s ceiling for one player is its purse minus ₹10 lakh for every other player it still has to buy. We worked it out two ways.
| Team | Purse left | Slots (overseas) | Max for one player if all slots filled | Max if they stop at 15 players* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UP Warriorz | ₹3.75 cr | 8 (3) | ₹3.05 cr | ₹3.35 cr |
| Gujarat Giants | ₹1.25 cr | 3 (1) | ₹1.05 cr | ₹1.25 cr |
| Royal Challengers Bengaluru | ₹1.15 cr | 5 (2) | ₹75 lakh | ₹1.05 cr |
| Delhi Capitals | ₹1.10 cr | 5 (1) | ₹70 lakh | ₹1.00 cr |
| Mumbai Indians | ₹90 lakh | 6 (0) | ₹40 lakh | ₹70 lakh |
*Assumes the 15-player squad minimum from the league’s launch still applies. Post-trade purse figures.
What it tells us. Only UP Warriorz can win a genuine bidding war, because their ceiling is roughly three times anyone else’s. Gujarat could, in theory, put their entire ₹1.25 crore on one overseas name, but only by buying nobody else. Mumbai cannot bid on Dunkley or Molineux at all, because their overseas quota is full.
Our predictions.
- At least one of Dunkley or Molineux joins UP Warriorz. They have three overseas slots, the most of any side, and the money to outlast everyone.
- No buy outside UPW goes above ₹1.25 crore. That is a hard mathematical limit, since no other team has more money.
- Brabourne and Kotambi host WPL 2027, not Varanasi. Both grounds stage the Champions Trophy from 14 February, so using them for the WPL gives organisers a working rehearsal. Varanasi still has an inspection and a test match to clear in under three months.
- RCB do not retain the title. No champion has yet, and a compressed schedule with no second chance in the knockouts rewards depth more than stars. Our early pick to top the table is Mumbai Indians, whose core is intact and who have won every other year.
We will mark each prediction right or wrong in the change log once the result is known.
WPL 2027 FAQs
When will WPL 2027 start?
WPL 2027 starts on 14 January 2027 and the final is on 7 February 2027. The BCCI has confirmed the window, but the match-by-match schedule and timings have not been released yet.
When and where is the WPL 2027 auction?
The auction is on 28 October 2026 at the Grand Hyatt in Kochi, starting at 5:30 PM IST. It is a mini-auction with 146 players registered for 27 slots.
Where will WPL 2027 be played?
The venues have not been officially announced. Reports say Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium will host matches, with Vadodara’s Kotambi Stadium or the new Varanasi stadium in line for the second slot.
How many teams and matches are there in WPL 2027?
There are five teams: Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and UP Warriorz. They play 22 matches in total, 20 in the double round-robin league followed by the Eliminator and the final.
Who won WPL 2026?
Royal Challengers Bengaluru won WPL 2026, beating Delhi Capitals by six wickets in the final at Vadodara on 5 February 2026. It was RCB’s second title after 2024.
Which team has the highest purse for the WPL 2027 auction?
UP Warriorz have the biggest purse at ₹3.75 crore after the Tara Norris trade, with eight slots to fill. Mumbai Indians have the smallest at ₹90 lakh.
Have Delhi Capitals ever won the WPL?
No. Delhi Capitals have reached all four WPL finals, in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, and lost every one of them.
Which team has won the most WPL titles?
Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru have two titles each. MI won in 2023 and 2025, and RCB in 2024 and 2026.
Last updated: 20 October 2026, 3:45 PM IST
