New Delhi, Nov 27 (IANS) Navi Mumbai and Vadodara are the venues for the 2026 Women’s Premier League, to be held from January 9 to February 5. The tournament will open at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, while the final is scheduled to be held at Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara.

The announcement was made by WPL Committee Chairman Jayesh George before the competition’s first-ever mega auction began in New Delhi on Thursday. IANS understands that the WPL Committee had a meeting at the auction venue around noon to finalise the dates and venues, with the full schedule expected to come out soon.

As per the dates announced by George, the fourth WPL final will be held two days before the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup begins in India and Sri Lanka. IANS understands that the rationale behind keeping the second half of WPL 2026 in Vadodara is also due to the Kotambi stadium being set to host the men’s ODI series opener between India and New Zealand on January 11.

Vadodara was one of the four hosts for WPL in 2025 and now sees getting the entire second half as well as the knockout stages, including the all-important title clash. The tournament will also mark the return of women’s cricket in the WPL for the first time after India won the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup on November 2.

For now, the focus of all five teams – two-time champions Mumbai Indians, 2024 winners Royal Challengers Bengaluru, three-time runners-up Delhi Capitals, UP Warriorz and Gujarat Giants – will be to make a trophy-winning squad for the 2026 season.

At the mega auction, India’s ODI World Cup-winning captain Harmanpreet Kaur is present at the MI table, alongside Jhulan Goswami, new coach Lisa Keightley, and team owners. DC have a star-studded line-up in head coach Jonathan Batty and director of cricket Sourav Ganguly.

New UPW head coach Abhishek Nayar and mentor Lisa Sthalekar are present, while Pravin Tambe and Michael Klinger are representing GG and RCB has newly appointed assistant coach Anya Shrubsole on the table alongside head coach Malolan Rangarajan.

–IANS

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