WPL 2023: Schedule, format, free entry, squads, DRS, live TV, streaming and more

Today (March 4) is a historic day for women’s cricket in India. March 4, 2023, marks the beginning of the first-ever Women’s Premier League (WPL) Twenty20 tournament with the participation of five teams.

In the tournament opener, Gujarat Giants will face Mumbai Indians at Navi Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium.

WPL 2023 schedule, format, free entry, teams, captains, venues, DRS, live TV, streaming, commentators, and more information, here is all you need to know about WPL 2023.

Also read: RCB names Ben Sawyer as head coach for WPL 2023

5 – Number of teams in WPL 2023. Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Giants, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore and UP Warriorz will vie for the trophy

22 – Total number of matches in WPL 2023. There will be 4 double headers.

87 – Total number of players in WPL 2023

30 – Total number of foreign cricketers bought at WPL auction

2 – The entire WPL 2023 will be played at two venues, DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai and Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

Start and end dates – WPL 2023 begins on March 4 (Saturday) and the final is on March 26 (Sunday).

Match start times – 3:30 PM IST and 7:30 PM IST.

₹100 – The starting price of a ticket WPL match.

Free entry – According to the organisers, it is free entry for girls/women. However, they have only a limited number of seats. Even for free entry, one needs to book/register under the women’s category on bookmyshow website. Without registration/booking, no free entry on match day, according to the ticket booking portal.

Also read: Adani among five owners of WPL

WPL 2023 format

Each team plays the other twice in the round-robin phase with the table topper qualifying for the final. The second and third-placed teams play in the Eliminator to decide the other finalist. Each team an have a maximum of four overseas players in the Playing XI while there is an option for a fifth foreign player if she is from an Associate nation. Delhi Capitals is the only team with an Associate nation player (Left-arm fast bowler Tara Norris of the US).

Where teams have an equal number of points their relative positions shall be determined by – The team with the most wins in matches; If there are teams with equal points and equal wins, then in such case the team with the higher net run rate will be placed in the higher position; If still equal, then the team with the higher number of wickets taken per fair balls bowled in which results were achieved will be placed in the higher position; If still equal at the end of the round-robin matches, then the team position will be determined by drawing lots.

Also read: A la Dhoni 2007, Shafali’s side pulls off a stunner at U-19 T20 WC before WPL

Play-off matches

If any of the final or the Eliminator matches are tied, or there is no result, then the teams shall compete in a Super Over and if necessary further Super Overs to determine which team is the winner of the Final; and if conditions do not permit a Super Over, or subsequent Super Overs within the time available to determine the winner then the team which, at the end of the round-robin matches, finished 1st in the table will be deemed the winner of the final.

Super Over

If the Super Over is a tie, subsequent Super Overs shall be played until a winner is determined.

Each team shall be allowed to have one unsuccessful Player Review in each Super Over.

DRS (Decision Review System) – Each team will two unsuccessful reviews per innings. WPL will use UltraEdge and HawkEye technologies for DRS.

₹4,669 crore – Total cost of 5 WPL franchises.

₹1,289 crore – The amount spent by Adani Sportsline Pvt Ltd to buy the Ahmedabad franchise (Gujarat Giants). This is the costliest team in WPL.

WPL owners – Adani Sportsline Pvt Ltd, Reliance Industries’ Indiawin Sports Pvt Ltd, Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd, JSW GMR Cricket Pvt Ltd and Capri Global Holdings Pvt Ltd are the five owners of WPL.

₹59.50 crore – Total amount spent by the 5 WPL franchises at the inaugural players’ auction.

₹3.4 crore – The amount spent by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the auction to sign up Smriti Mandhana, making her the costliest player in the WPL.

Captains of WPL 2023

• Delhi Capitals – Meg Lanning (Australia)
• Gujarat Giants – Beth Mooney (Australia)
• Mumbai Indians – Harmanpreet Kaur (India)
• Royal Challengers Bangalore – Smriti Mandhana (India)
• UP Warriorz – Alyssa Healy (Australia)

The calm before the storm 🌪️

The 5️⃣ captains meet in Mumbai ahead of the #TATAWPL opener before they put their game face 🔛😎 pic.twitter.com/R2487mlbUw

— Women’s Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 3, 2023

Live TV and streaming information of WPL 2023

WPL 2023 will be telecast live on Sports18 channels (English and Telugu on Sports18 – 1 SD & HD, in Hindi on Sports18 Khel, in Kannada on Colors Kannada Cinema, and in Tamil on Colors Tamil). Live streaming of WPL 2023 is for free of cost on JioCinema app in five languages – English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu. WPL coverage will have 4K resolution (UltraHD) in English and Hindi on JioCinema.

WPL 2023 Opening Ceremony – According to the organisers, a star-studded line-up with Bollywood celebrities including Kriti Sanon, Kiara Advani will perform at the opening ceremony from 5:30 PM IST on March 4 at the DY Patil Stadium.

WPL 2023 commentators list

• English: Kate Cross, Natalie Germanos, Mel Jones.
• Hindi: Anjum Chopra, Reema Malhotra, Samantha Lobatto, Zaheer Khan, Aakash Chopra, Parthiv Patel, Anant Tyagi and Saba Karim, Punam Raut, Pragyan Ojha.
• Kannada: Veda Krishnamurthy, Karuna Jain, Venkatesh Prasad, Sujay Shastry, Raghavendra Raj, Sumanth.
• Tamil: Niranjana Nagarajan, Aarti Sankaran, Abhinav Mukund, Anirudha Srikkanth, Vidyut Sivaramkrishnan, Sudhir Srinivasan, Bagawati Prasad, R Sridhar.
• Telugu: Sunitha Anand, Sravanthi Naidu, Sandeep Bavanaka, Vijay Goud, Venkatpathy Raju, Hanuma Vihari, Akshath Reddy.

Here is the full schedule of WPL 2023 (All times IST)

March 4 (Saturday)

Gujarat Giants vs Mumbai Indians – DY Patil Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 5 (Sunday)

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Capitals – Brabourne Stadium

UP Warriorz vs Gujarat Giants – DY Patil Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 6 (Monday)

Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore – Brabourne Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 7 (Tuesday)

Delhi Capitals vs UP Warriorz – DY Patil Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 8 (Wednesday)

Gujarat Giants vs Royal Challengers Bangalore – Brabourne Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 9 (Thursday)

Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians – DY Patil Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 10 (Friday)

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs UP Warriorz – Brabourne Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 11 (Saturday)

Gujarat Giants vs Delhi Capitals – DY Patil Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 12 (Sunday)

UP Warriorz vs Mumbai Indians – Brabourne Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 13 (Monday)

Delhi Capitals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore – DY Patil Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 14 (Tuesday)

Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants – Brabourne Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 15 (Wednesday)

UP Warriorz vs Royal Challengers Bangalore – DY Patil Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 16 (Thursday)

Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Giants – Brabourne Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 18 (Saturday)

Mumbai Indians vs UP Warriorz – DY Patil Stadium (3:30 PM)

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Giants – Brabourne Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 20 (Monday)

Gujarat Giants vs UP Warriorz – Brabourne Stadium (3:30 PM)

Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Capitals – DY Patil Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 21 (Tuesday)

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians – DY Patil Stadium (3:30 PM)

UP Warriorz vs Delhi Capitals – Brabourne Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 24 (Friday)

Eliminator – DY Patil Stadium (7:30 PM)

March 26 (Sunday)

Final – Brabourne Stadium (7:30 PM)

Here are WPL 2023 squads

Delhi Capitals

• Squad strength: 18 (6 overseas players)
• Remaining purse: ₹35 lakh
• Jemimah Rodrigues (₹2.2 crore), Meg Lanning (₹1.1 crore), Shafali Verma (₹2 crore), Radha Yadav (₹40 lakh), Shikha Pandey (₹60 lakh), Marizanne Kapp (₹1.5 crore), Titas Sadhu (₹25 lakh), Alice Capsey (₹75 lakh), Tara Norris (₹10 lakh), Laura Harris (₹45 lakh), Jasia Akhter (₹20 lakh), Minnu Mani (₹30 lakh), Poonam Yadav (₹30 lakh), Taniya Bhatia (₹30 lakh), Jess Jonassen (₹50 lakh), Sneha Deepthi (₹30 lakh), Arundhati Reddy (₹30 lakh), Aparna Mondal (₹10 lakh).

Gujarat Giants

• Squad strength: 18 (6 overseas players)
• Remaining purse: ₹5 lakh
• Ashleigh Gardner (₹3.2 crore), Beth Mooney (₹2 crore), Sophia Dunkley (₹60 lakh), Annabel Sutherland (₹70 lakh), Harleen Deol (₹40 lakh), Deandra Dottin (₹60 lakh), Sneh Rana (₹75 lakh), S Meghana (₹30 lakh), Georgia Wareham (₹75 lakh), Mansi Joshi (₹30 lakh), Dayalan Hemalatha (₹30 lakh), Monica Patel (₹30 lakh), Tanuja Kanwer (₹50 lakh), Sushma Verma (₹60 lakh), Hurley Gala (₹10 lakh), Ashwani Kumari (₹35 lakh), Parunika Sisodia (₹10 lakh), Shabman Shakil (₹10 lakh).

Mumbai Indians

• Squad strength: 17 (6 overseas players)
• Remaining purse: 0
• Harmanpreet Kaur (₹1.8 crore), Nat Sciver-Brunt (₹3.2 crore), Amelia Kerr (₹1 crore), Pooja Vastrakar (₹1.9 crore), Yastika Bhatia (₹1.5 crore), Heather Graham (₹30 lakh), Isabelle Wong (₹30 lakh), Amanjot Kaur (₹50 lakh), Dhara Gujjar (₹10 lakh), Saika Ishaque (₹10 lakh), Hayley Matthews (₹40 lakh), Chloe Tryon (₹30 lakh), Priyanka Bala (₹20 lakh), Humairaa Kaazi (₹10 lakh), Neelam Bisht (₹10 lakh), Jintamani Kalita (₹10 lakh), Sonam Yadav (₹10 lakh).

Royal Challengers Bangalore

• Squad strength: 18 (6 overseas players)
• Remaining purse: ₹10 lakh
• Smriti Mandhana (₹3.4 crore), Sophie Devine (₹50 lakh), Ellyse Perry (₹1.7 crore), Renuka Singh (₹1.5 crore), Richa Ghosh (₹1.9 crore), Indrani Roy (₹10 lakh), Disha Kasat (₹10 lakh), Shreyanka Patil (₹10 lakh), Kanika Ahuja (₹35 lakh), Asha Shobhana (₹10 lakh), Erin Burns (₹30 lakh), Heather Knight (₹40 lakh), Dane van Niekerk (₹30 lakh), Preeti Bose (₹30 lakh), Poonam Khemnar (₹10 lakh), Komal Zanzad (₹25 lakh), Megan Schutt (₹40 lakh), Sahana Pawar (₹10 lakh).

UP Warriorz

• Squad strength: 16 (6 overseas players)
• Remaining purse: 0
• Sophie Ecclestone (₹1.8 crore), Deepti Sharma (₹2.6 crore), Tahlia McGrath (₹1.4 crore), Shabnim Ismail (₹1 crore), Alyssa Healy (₹70 lakh), Anjali Sarvani (₹55 lakh), Rajeshwari Gayakwad (₹40 lakh), Parshavi Chopra (₹10 lakh), Shweta Sehrawat (₹40 lakh), S Yashasri (₹10 lakh), Kiran Navgire (₹30 lakh), Grace Harris (₹75 lakh), Devika Vaidya (₹1.4 crore), Lauren Bell (₹30 lakh), Laxmi Yadav (₹10 lakh), Simran Shaikh (₹10 lakh).