WPL 2024 Will be Played in One State, Expected to Start in Second-Third Week of February: BCCI Secretary Jay Shah

The WPL 2024 auction witnessed some incredible stories and BCCI Secretary Jay Shah was available to answer a few queries surrounding the second season of the highly anticipated women’s T20 league.

The inaugural season of the tournament was played in multiple venues across Mumbai, and Shah expressed that the second season would follow the same format and be held in one particular state, instead of a home-and-away format, citing logistics.

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

“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,” Shah reiterated.

“We will let you know as soon as we decide, but it will be in one state for sure.

The inaugural edition of the women’s tournament turned out to be an immense success and helped in bolstering the profile of women’s cricket in the nation and across the globe as well.

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

Shah also addressed the timeline of the second season of the WPL, stating that the BCCI was looking to begin the tournament underway towards the end 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.

India is also scheduled to host the ICC Women’s World ODI Cup in the year 2025 and Shah said that the event will be treated with the same respect and integrity the recently concluded men’s World Cup was treated with.

“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.

He also said that the BCCI is working on further improving the profile of the women’s game in the nation and is exploring new avenues to take the sport forward.

“The last time we held the tournament at the DY Patil, Wankhede and the Braboune. The reception was good. We are working hard to take the women’s game forward,” he added.