Women's IPL teams announced

The BCCI, on Wednesday, announced the five franchises and the cities they will be based out of for the inaugural edition of the Women's IPL slated to start later this year.

The apex body also revealed that the tournament will be called Women's Premier League (WPL) instead of the Women's Indian Premier League (WIPL).

The five cities which would have WPL teams include Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Bangalore, Lucknow, and Delhi.

While the Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi franchises will be the sister teams of their IPL teams, the Adani Group won the bid for Ahmedabad even as Capri Global took Lucknow.

The Ahmedabad franchise was the costliest buy in the auction, as per reports, with the Adani Group bidding a whopping INR. 1289 crore for the team. Reliance won Mumbai at INR. 912.99 crore while Bangalore, Delhi, and Lucknow went for INR. 901 crore, INR. 810 crore, and INR. 757 crore respectively.

The total valuation for the five WPL teams stands at a massive INR. 4669.99 crore - a number way higher compared to the inaugural Indian Premier League.

"Today is a historic day in cricket as the bidding for teams of inaugural #WPL broke the records of the inaugural Men's IPL in 2008! Congratulations to the winners as we garnered Rs.4669.99 Cr in total bid. This marks the beginning of a revolution in women's cricket and paves the way for a transformative journey ahead not only for our women cricketers but for the entire sports fraternity. The #WPL would bring necessary reforms in women's cricket and would ensure an all-encompassing ecosystem that benefits each and every stakeholder," BCCI secretary Jay Shah tweeted.