The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) launched the long-awaited Women’s Premier League (WPL) in 2023. Since then, the premier women’s T20 league has been taking bigger strides, trying to mimic the IPL’s success.
Every season, the WPL assembles five teams, taking on each other to claim the ultimate glory. The league has an exciting format that culminates with playoffs.
In this article, we’ll glance at the format of the WPL in detail, along with the participating teams. Let’s start with the teams.
How many teams participate in WPL?
As mentioned earlier, five teams feature in the WPL. Three of them belong to IPL team owners, while the other two come under different management.
All five teams have their bases in major Indian hubs as they hail from Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Lucknow, and Mumbai.
Here are the participating teams in the WPL:
- Delhi Capitals
- Gujarat Giants
- Mumbai Indians
- Royal Challengers Bengaluru
- UP Warriorz
You can check out the owners of each WPL team here.
Now that you know the WPL franchises, let’s see the format of the league.
Also Read | Explained: IPL Playoffs Format and Qualification
How does the WPL format work?
The WPL has a simple format in place. The five-team league features a double round-robin format.
That means each team takes on the other four sides twice in the league stage. So each team plays eight league stage matches per season.
Overall, there are 22 matches in a WPL season, with 20 being the league stage games while the rest two are part of the playoffs.
How does the WPL playoff format work?
Since it’s a five-team league, only the top three teams on the points table advance to the playoffs. The table-toppers have an edge over the other two teams as they directly cruise into the final.
The No. 2 and No. 3 teams, though, need to battle it out in the eliminator to seal the other final spot. Once the eliminator concludes, the winner heads into the final to square off against the No. 1 team.
Final Words
There is a high chance that the WPL may expand in the future with new teams entering the league. If and when that happens, the format of the league will see some slight changes.
Nevertheless, the WPL promises to deliver many memorable performances and unearth future women’s cricketing stars.
Read Next | WPL Winners List from 2023 to Date
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