BCCI Announces October 28 Auction for WPL Season 5
The Women’s Premier League is back on the clock.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has formally informed the five WPL franchises that the Season 5 auction will be held on October 28 in Kochi, giving teams a clear date to circle and a tight window to reshape their squads.
The communication went out on Wednesday (September 16), and with it came the first real jolt of the new season. The countdown has started.
Retention race on a tight deadline
Franchises now have until September 28 to decide who stays and who goes. Twelve days to settle dressing-room debates, weigh loyalty against form, and decide which big contracts to carry into another cycle.
Each squad can retain or rebuild within a maximum of 18 players, with no more than six overseas names allowed. The salary cap for this cycle stands at INR 15 crore, a figure that will force some hard calls on star-heavy rosters and open doors for emerging domestic talent.
Behind those numbers lies the real game: how much faith to place in last season’s core, and how much to gamble on the auction table in Kochi.
Mumbai and Vadodara locked in
While the auction will play out on the west coast, the action in the new season is expected to return to familiar territory.
BCCI is understood to have zeroed in on Mumbai and Vadodara as the venues for Season 5, with the tournament likely to run in the January–February window, mirroring last year’s schedule. The CCI in Mumbai and the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara have been identified as the definitive hosts.
These two grounds carried the weight of Season 4, culminating in the final in the Gujarat city on February 5. They will again form the league’s spine as it tries to build continuity in both conditions and crowds.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who lifted the trophy last time out, will walk back into these venues as defending champions, with every rival plotting how to unseat them.
Varanasi on the horizon, but not yet
There has been a buzz around Varanasi, where a new stadium is rising and local enthusiasm is already building. The idea of taking WPL games there has been floated, but for now it sits on the margins of the plan rather than at its centre.
Sources in the WPL setup indicate that any move to stage matches in Varanasi will depend entirely on the venue’s readiness. The ground must first host domestic fixtures and prove it can handle the demands of elite competition. Until that happens, staging WPL games there is considered a remote possibility.
For this season, the league stays anchored in Mumbai and Vadodara. Varanasi, if it arrives, will be part of a later chapter.
Auction in Kochi, pressure everywhere
So the roadmap is clear. Kochi on October 28 for the auction. Retention lists locked in by September 28. A salary cap of INR 15 crore and room for 18 players, six from overseas.
On paper, it is administrative clarity. In practice, it is pressure.
Franchises must decide which combinations can withstand another season, which players still have upside, and where to spend big in a market that grows more competitive every year. Royal Challengers Bengaluru sit on the throne for now, but the next few weeks will show who is serious about chasing them down when Season 5 begins in the new year.
