WPL 2026 to run from January 9 to February 5 in Navi Mumbai, Vadodara

WPL 2026 will run from January 9 to February 5 and will be played across two cities, Navi Mumbai and Vadodara. The dates for the fourth season was made by the league chairman Jayesh George at the start of the WPL auction in Delhi on Thursday.

The DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai - where India recently won the Women's ODI World Cup final - will start the tournament and host the first leg of the WPL. The league will then move to the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara where the final will also be played on February 5. This is the first time the WPL will be played in the January-February window; the first three seasons were played in February-March just before the IPL. This will also be the first time the WPL will not clash with major international fixtures.

Thursday marked the first mega auction for the WPL since the inception of the league in 2023, and the first time right-to-match (RTM) cards were available to teams.

Mumbai Indians (MI) are the defending champions of the WPL and have won two out of three editions so far. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the title in 2024 and Delhi Capitals (DC) had finished as runners-up in all three seasons. Ten days after the WPL ends, the India women's team will start an all-format tour in Australia, for three T20Is, three ODIs and a Test from February 15 to March 9.

Earlier this year was the first time the WPL was held in more than two cities, when the matches were played in Lucknow, Vadodara, Mumbai and Bengaluru and came closest to a home-and-away format, with UP Warriorz, Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Giants and RCB getting home games. But with the format returning to just two cities for 2026 - as was the case in 2024 - the DC co-owner Parth Jindal hoped the tournament would get a longer window to accommodate a home-and-away format.

"Yes, we would love to see the WPL home and away as well. I think this caravan format is okay, but it's not ideal," Jindal said during the auction. "And I'm sure that the BCCI is working on it. I think the amount of time that they get is very short and that's why in order to fit the WPL within this window, this is the best and most ideal format, but I hope we get a bigger, longer window for the WPL as well going forward. And I think it is imminent that either one or two new teams will come in at some point. And that's why I think the cycle is such a short cycle with only two WPLs over 14 months. So I'm pretty sure that the BCCI is planning on adding a team, and maybe with that addition, we move home and away. That would be ideal for the fans, for the game, and for the growth of the WPL."

The WPL has been expanding to more than one city since the first edition in 2023, when it was co-hosted by the Brabourne Stadium and the DY Patil Stadium in and around Mumbai.