The Women’s Premier League (WPL), which people also sometimes call the Women’s IPL, is a T20 franchise league in India. Over the past few years, women have proved they can play cricket as well as men. In the WPL, we not only witnessed rules similar to the IPL but also thrilling cricket matches. The WPL is a league worth exploring, and that’s what we are going to do in this article.
WPL Overview
The WPL is a T20 league in India first played in 2023. A total of five teams consisting of many talented domestic and international female cricketers participated in the tournament. The teams were Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Giants, Royals Challengers Bangalore, and UP Warriorz. Under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Kaur, Mumbai Indians won the first season of WPL. Here is an overview of this league:
| Format | T20 |
| Administrator | BCCI |
| Teams | 5 |
| First Season | 2023 |
| Where To Watch | Sports 18 and Jio Cinema |
| WPL 2023 Winners | Mumbai Indians |
| Official Website | wplt20.com |
WPL Management
The conducting body of the tournament is the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The rules and structure of the league are inspired by the Indian Premier League. Currently, 5 teams face each other in a double round-robin format during the group stage matches. After the group stage, the top three teams move ahead. The team in the number one position directly enters the final, while the other two play the eliminator match.
In the first edition of WPL, 22 matches were played in two cricket grounds in Mumbai, and tickets were free for women. This league is for sure helping to promote women’s cricket, and after the success of the first season, the board is planning to increase the participating teams and the number of matches in the upcoming years.
Teams In The Women’s Premier League
As we have discussed earlier, 5 teams participated in the first edition of the Women’s Premier League, and here are their details:
- Delhi Capitals: The team is based in New Delhi and is owned by the JSW Group.
- Gujarat Giants: The team is based in Ahmedabad and is owned by the Adani Group.
- UP Warriorz: The team is based in Lucknow and is owned by Capri Global.
- Mumbai Indians: The team is based in Mumbai and is owned by Indiawin Sports.
- Royals Challengers Bangalore: The team is based in Bangalore and is owned by Diageo.
The First Season
The first season of the Women’s Premier League began in March 2023. Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants kicked off the tournament by playing the first match on 4 March which the MI won. After the group stage matches, Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians, and UP Warriorz were the top three teams in the points table.
As per the rules, Delhi Capitals, which was in the number one position, got direct entry to the final match. On the other hand, Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz played the eliminator match. MI defeated the Warriorz in a one-sided match by 72 runs and became the second finalist.
The final match was played between Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz on 26 January at the Brabourne Stadium. Playing first, the batters of DC failed to set a huge target. However, the match went close, and we had no idea who would win until the last over. With some difficulty, Mumbai Indians successfully chased down the target of 132 and lifted the trophy. Individual best performers were also awarded, and surprisingly, all the awards went to players from these two teams.
The player of the match was Nat Sciver Brunt, who played an important innings of 60 runs and helped the team in winning the match by 7 wickets. Hayley Matthews, also from the Mumbai Indians, received two awards that night: the player of the series and bowler of the series. She scored 271 runs and picked 16 wickets in the tournament. The captain of Delhi Capitals, Meg Lanning, who scored 345 runs in the series, was honored with the batter of the series award.