2026 WPL: Teams, Schedule, Format – All you need to know

The 2026 Women's Premier League is all set to commence on Friday. The fourth edition of the franchise based T20 league will be held across two cities: Navi Mumbai and Vadodara.

The first 11 matches of the league will be held in Navi Mumbai before the tournament shifts to Vadodara, where the final will be held on 5 February, 2026 next month.

The league will kickstart with a clash between defending champions Mumbai Indians and fan favourites Royal Challengers Bengaluru on 9 January, 2026.

Format

The five teams: Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, UP Warriorz, and Gujarat Giants will compete in a double round robin league stage.

The top three teams on the points table after the league stage will advance to the next stage, while the bottom two will crash out of the tournament.

Among the top three teams, the table toppers will directly book their spot in the Final. The second and third placed teams, meanwhile, will battle it out in an Eliminator to qualify for the Final.

Squads

The 2026 WPL mega auction saw the five teams combine to buy a total of 67 players. Deepti Sharma, the Player of the Tournament during India's ICC Women's World Cup triumph, emerged as the most expensive player of the auction as UP Warriorz brought her back via the Right To Match (RTM) card.

Anushka Sharma was the costliest uncapped buy the Gujarat Giants snapped her up for Rs 45 lakh.

Following the auction, there were multiple withdrawals reported with star players like Ellyse Perry (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), Annabel Sutherland (Delhi Capitals), and Tara Norris (UP Warriorz) pulling out.

While RCB roped in Sayali Satgare, DC brought in Alana King, and UPW roped in Charli Knot as their replacement players.

Post the auction, the Delhi Capitals named India's world cup hero Jemimah Rodrigues as their captain. She'll take over from Australia's Meg Lanning, who was released from the team ahead of the auction.

Lanning, who had led the Capitals to three consecutive finals, was picked up by UP Warriorz and will lead them in them in the fourth edition.

The other three teams will be led by the usual suspects with Harmanpreet Kaur in helm of Mumbai Indians, Smriti Mandhana captaining Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and Ashleigh Gardner in charge of Gujarat Giants.

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Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Hayley Matthews, Amanjot Kaur, G. Kamalini, Amelia Kerr, Shabnim Ismail, Sanskriti Gupta, Sajana Sajeevan, Rahila Firdous, Nicola Carey, Poonam Khemnar, Triveni Vasistha, Nalla Reddy, Saika Ishaque, Milly Illingworth

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Jemimah Rodrigues (c), Shafali Verma, Marzianne Kapp, Niki Prasad, Laura Wolvaardt, Chinelle Henry, Shree Charani, Sneh Rana, Lizelle Lee, Deeya Yadav, Taniyaa Bhatia, Mamatha Madiwala, Nandni Sharma, Lucy Hamilton, Minnu Mani, Alana King

Delhi Capitals: Smriti Mandhana (c), Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Georgia Voll, Nadine de Klerk, Radha Yadav, Lauren Bell, Linsey Smith, Prema Rawat, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar, Grace Harris, Gautami Naik, Prathyoosha Kumar, D. Hemalatha, Sayali Satghare

UP Warriorz: Ashleigh Gardner (c), Beth Mooney, Sophie Devine, Renuka Singh Thakur, Bharti Fulmali, Titas Sadhu, Kashee Gautam, Kanika Ahuja, Tanuja Kanwer, Georgia Wareham, Anushka Sharma, Happy Kumari, Kim Garth, Yastika Bhatia, Shivani Singh, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Ayushi Soni

Gujarat Giants: Meg Lanning (c), Shweta Sehrawat, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone, Phoebe Litchfield, Kiran Navgire, Harleen Deol, Kranti Goud, Asha Sobhana, Deandra Dottin, Shikha Pandey, Shipra Giri, Simran Shaikh, Chloe Tryon, Suman Meena, G. Trisha, Pratika Rawal, Charli Knott

Debutants to watch out for

Among the domestic debutants, Haryana's Deeya Yadav who will turn out for the Delhi Capitals has been long touted as one of India's most exciting prospects. Anushka Sharma of Gujarat Giants is another name to watch out for.

Among the international recruits, Mumbai Indians' Milly Illingworth will be eager to prove her worth after impressing in the Women's Big Bash League with her fiery pace. 

The experienced Lizelle Lee of South Africa will also be in line for her WPL debut when she dons the Delhi Capitals' jersey.

Schedule

9 January: MI vs RCB

10 January: UPW vs GG

10 January: MI vs DC

11 January: DC vs GG

12 January: RCB vs UPW

13 January: MI vs GG

14 January: UPW vs DC

15 January: MI vs UPW

16 January: RCB vs GG

17 January: UPW vs MI

17 January: DC vs RCB

19 January: GG vs RCB

20 January: DC vs MI

22 January: GG vs UPW

24 January: RCB vs DC

26 January: RCB vs MI

27 January: DC vs GG

29 January: UPW vs RCB

30 January: GG vs MI

1 February: DC vs UPW

3 February: Eliminator

5 February: Final

Where to Watch?

You can catch all the LIVE action from the 2025 WPL in India on the Star Sports Network. Alternatively, you can also LIVE stream the matches on Jio Hotstar.