WPL 2027 schedule in short: the fifth season of the Women’s Premier League starts on Thursday, 14 January 2027 and ends with the final on Sunday, 7 February 2027. Five teams play 22 matches. The BCCI announced these dates on 16 September 2026 but has not yet published the fixture list or confirmed the venues.

That is normal for the WPL. In 2026, the full schedule only came out after the auction, about six weeks before the opening match. This year the auction was on 28 October, so the fixture list should follow in November or early December. Until then, the best clues are what the BCCI has said, what has been reported from the WPL Governing Council, and how the last four seasons were scheduled.

This year’s window is the earliest and shortest yet. The season starts five days later than 2026 but has to finish a week before the new ICC Women’s Champions Trophy, which India hosts from 14 to 28 February at the same two grounds expected to stage the WPL. That tight gap is the main reason Mumbai and Vadodara are the favourites to host: the grounds, staff and broadcast set-up will already be in place.

Only two dates are fixed so far: the opening match on 14 January and the final on 7 February. The pairings for the opener have not been announced. In each of the last three seasons, the defending champions played in the first match, so RCB, who won the 2026 title, are likely to be in the 2027 opener.

The BCCI has not announced start times yet. In every season so far, most WPL matches have started at 7:30 PM IST, with the toss at 7:00 PM. On double-header days, the first match has started in the afternoon. The table below shows what those start times mean around the world, so overseas fans can plan ahead. In January, Australia and New Zealand are on summer time, which is why evening matches in India fall in the middle of the night there.

Because there are only five teams, every side plays every other side twice, so nobody gets an easier draw. What can make a difference is the order of matches and where they are played. A team that plays most of its first-leg games at a ground that suits its bowlers can build an early lead. In 2026, RCB won six of their eight league games to top the table and went straight to the final, which shows how much the league position matters.

Look out for back-to-back matches too. With 22 matches in 25 days, some teams will have to play on consecutive days or travel between cities with little rest. Depth will matter. After the auction, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz carry the full 18, while Delhi Capitals and RCB have 17, so rotation won’t be a problem for anyone, but the quality of the last few names will.

The WPL has changed its host cities every year. The first season was played entirely in Mumbai, at the Brabourne and DY Patil stadiums. In 2024 it moved to Bengaluru and Delhi, with RCB’s home crowd at the Chinnaswamy one of the highlights of the season. 2025 was the most spread out, with four cities: Vadodara, Bengaluru, Lucknow and Mumbai. In 2026 it went back to two venues, Navi Mumbai and Vadodara, and moved forward into January.

The move to January is the biggest change. The first three seasons ran from late February or early March, just before the men’s IPL. Since 2026 the WPL has started in January, giving it its own space in the calendar. In 2027 that window is squeezed further by the new Women’s Champions Trophy in February.

Mumbai has been the WPL’s home base, hosting matches in three of the four seasons and two of the four finals. Vadodara has quickly become the second home of the WPL after two straight seasons, including the 2026 final. That history is why most reports expect those two cities again.