sports desk42 minutes ago
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The fourth season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) is scheduled to start from January 9. The first match will be between defending champions Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore. The match will be played at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai at 7:30 pm.
22 matches will be played in this tournament lasting 28 days between 5 teams. The eliminator will be held in Vadodara on 3 February and the final on 5 February. Competitions will be held at 2 venues. Before the new season, 2 out of 5 teams changed their captains.
Know everything about WPL Season 4…
1. In which format will the tournament be played?
Like every time, WPL will be played in league format. All five teams will play 2-2 matches against each other. That means one team will play 8 matches in the tournament. After the end of the league stage, the team at the top of the points table will directly enter the finals. There will be an eliminator between the teams ranked 2nd and 3rd, the winning team will also make it to the finals. Teams at number 4 and 5 will be out.
2. How many days will there be double headers?
There was not a single double header i.e. 2 matches in a day in WPL for 3 seasons. However, this time the schedule includes 2 double headers. Both will be held at DY Patil Stadium on Saturday. The first double header will be played on January 10 and the second on January 17.
3. How many matches will be held at which venue?
This time the tournament will be played at only 2 venues instead of 4. The first 11 matches will be played at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai and the last 11 matches will be played at Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara. Both the playoff matches will be held in Vadodara itself.
4. How many foreigners can remain in the playing-11?
A team can have a maximum of 4 foreign players in its playing 11. The remaining 7 players should be from India. At the same time, if a team includes a player from an associate country in the playing-11, then they also have the facility to field 5 foreign players.
5. How many teams and who is the captain?
Only 5 teams are participating in the fourth season also. Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Capitals, UP Warriors and Gujarat Giants. Among these, except Mumbai, Gujarat and Bengaluru, other teams changed their captains. Delhi will be captained by Jemimah Rodriguez. Meg Lanning will be the captain of UP, who earlier captained Delhi and took the team to the finals in all three seasons.
6. Will there be impact player rule in WPL also?
No, there is no Impact Player rule in the WPL. Therefore it will not be used in this. Teams could definitely include 5 foreign players in the playing-11 as associate players. However, this time America’s Tara Norris, the only associate player sold in the auction, will not be able to play the tournament. She will be seen playing against America in the T-20 World Cup Qualifier, hence was out of WPL.
7. Who won the most titles?
Mumbai Indians is the most successful team of WPL. The team made it to the playoffs in all three seasons and also won the title twice. The team could not reach the finals only in 2024, when MI had to face defeat against RCB in the eliminator. Bengaluru also won the title that season. The teams of Gujarat and UP have not been able to reach any final till now.
8. Which are the contending teams for the title?
Defending champion Mumbai Indians, 2024 champion Royal Challengers Bangalore and 3-time runner-up Delhi Capitals are the biggest contenders for the title. All three bought strong teams in the mega auction. Whereas the teams of UP and Gujarat could not make a strong team despite having more money in the auction.
9. How much will be the prize money?
Like all three seasons, this time too the winning team will be given a reward of Rs 6 crore. The runner-up team will get Rs 3 crore. The best batsman, best bowler, player of the tournament, player with most sixes and best strike rate will be given Rs 5 lakh each. Player of the final will get Rs 2.50 lakh. In the remaining matches, the player of the match will be given Rs 1 lakh each.
10. When and where to watch WPL matches?
The live telecast of WPL will be on Star Network. Online streaming of the matches will be on JioHotstar app. All night matches in WPL 2026 will start at 7:30 PM IST. The toss will take place at 7 pm. On the day of double header, the first match will start at 3.30 pm. You can follow Dainik Bhaskar app for moment-to-moment updates of the tournament.
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