The dates of the Women’s Premier League 2027 (WPL) fifth season from January 14 to February 7, 2027 have been confirmed by the BCCI. The player auction will take place in Kochi on 28 October. Ahead of the new season.
The five WPL franchises have been handed September 28 as the last date to complete their player retention lists. After the mega-auction last season in Delhi where 73 squad positions were filled, this time around the upcoming auction is a mini auction.
A franchise squad will have a maximum of 18 players, and run on a salary purse of INR 15 crore. Previous restrictions of number of players retained before auction won’t be imposed on teams.
UP Warriorz bought Deepti Sharma for INR 3.2 crore at last year’s mega-auction, the most expensive player on offer. Melie Kerr to Mumbai Indians (INR 3 crore), Shikha Pandey to UP Warriorz (INR 2.4 crore)
Gujarat Giants paid INR 2 crore for Kashvee Gautam at one of the earlier mini-auctions where she became the most expensive player of all time (2024). The next significant signing made by UP Warriorz in the mini-auction was Simran Shaikh, bought for INR 1.9 crore in 2025.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru are the reigning WPL champions going into WPL 2027 after winning the final in 2026. RCB have also been winners of the WPL trophy previously in 2024. The Women’s Premier League runs for five days at the end of March as it hosts its inaugural season and two-time winners Mumbai Indians could head into next term with a new boss after installing Lisa Keightley in a development role with Cricket Australia.
Former India women’s selection chair Neetu David too has been brought in as chief scout by UP Warriorz to strengthen their backroom setup. The role has been filled by Bengal allrounder Rajib Dutta as her replacement.
The teams have already started building their squads for the new season of WPL with the dates of auction, retention deadline and tournament confirmed.
