The second edition of the Women’s Premier League will set in motion on Friday 23 February 2024, with defending Champions Mumbai Indians kicking-off their title defence against Delhi Capitals, the inaugural edition’s runners-up, at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Here’s everything you need to know about the WPL 2024:
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What is the Venue for the WPL 2024?
The WPL’s venue has been divided equally between Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy stadium and Delhi’s Arun Jaitley stadium with the five team competition featuring 22 games, including the knockouts. Bangalore will host the first 11 games until 4th March with the first match in Delhi kicking off on March 5. The Arun Jaitley Stadium will also host the Eliminator and the Final on March 15 and 17 respectively.
What is the Structure of the Tournament?
The number of teams and the format of the tournament has remain unchanged from last year. In the double round-robin format each team will play the other four twice. The team at the top of the table makes it straight to the final, just like last year and the team at the second and third at the table will face each other in the Eliminator to book a spot in the final.
The only slight change though from last year is that that there won’t be any days where two matches are played back-to-back at the same venue. Each day of matches will feature only one game.
Women’s Premier League 2024 Match Timings
Every match will begin at 7:30 PM IST, all of them played consecutively, one after the other with no rest days. There will be break days before each of the two knockout matches.
Form of Toss
Just the usual coin toss. But also a fun fact to remember is that Mumbai Indians Captain Harmanpreet Kaur lost seven tosses consecutively last season before eventually winning one. In total, Harmanpreet lost lost nine tosses out of the ten matches Mumbai Indians had played.
Is There an Impact Sub in WPL?
No, there isn’t. The captain will name the 11 players for the match during the toss, except in cases where concussion substitutes are required.
Will There Be DRS Available?
Yes, each side will have 2 reviews per innings with all the games being fully televised and equipped with the Decision Review System (DRS).
Will Players Be Able to Review Wides and No-balls using DRS?
Yes they will be. For a fact it was in the WPL 2023 that this DRS rule modification, was first implemented in T20 league cricket. Subsequently it was then followed in the next IPL 2023 as well.
Were There Any Unexpected Releases Ahead of the Mini Auction?
Gujarat Giants releasing Annabel Sutherland and UP Warriorz releasing Devika Vaidya and Shabnim Ismail did turn some heads with two of them finding new homes. As a matter of fact Gujarat Giants released 10 of their 18 squad players, including national stars like Mansi Joshi, S Meghana and Sushma Verma alongside foreigners like Kim Garth and Sophia Dunkley.
Mumbai Indians released Heather Graham and RCB released Dane van Niekerk. They left without playing zero matches for their respective sides. RCB also let go of Megan Schutt while Delhi Capitals parted ways with the first-ever Associate representative of the competition, USA’s Tara Norris.
Is There Any Associate Player in WPL 2024?
Yes, one from Scotland. Kathryn Bryce, Scottish medium-pace all-rounder will be the only Associate player in the WPL 2024. Gujarat Giants signed her at a base price of INR 10 Lakh. Therefore, Gujarat Giants can now include up to five overseas players in their playing XI, with the condition that one of them must be Bryce.
Where to Watch the WPL 2024: Streaming Details
You can watch all the matches on television in Sports 18 and catch the action LIVE for free in Jio Cinema.
