Mumbai Indians, Gujarat Giants to kick off WPL 2023 on March 4

Gujarat Giants will take on Mumbai Indians in the first game of the inaugural edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on March 4, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced on Tuesday (February 14).

Meanwhile, the final will be played at the Brabourne Stadium on March 26. The Final game of the league stage will be played between UP Warriorz and Delhi Capitals on 21st March, while the Eliminator will be at the DY Patil Stadium on 24th March.

There will be four double headers with the first match starting at 3:30 PM IST. All evening matches will start at 7:30 PM IST. A total of 11 matches each will be held at the DY Patil Stadium and Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.  

A total of 20 league games will be played, with all five franchises -  Delhi Capitals, Gujarat, Mumbai, Royal Challengers Bangalore & UP Warriorz - playing each other twice. The table-topper will directly qualify for the final, while the second and third-placed teams will play the Eliminator, with the winner taking the remaining spot in the final.

Also read: Breaking down the Women's Premier League auction

The schedule has been announced only a day after the inaugural WPL auction. A total of 87 players were bought at the auction, with INR 59.5 crore being spent. 

The auction began with Smriti Mandhana kicking off the WPL in blockbuster fashion, going for INR 3.40 crore, and as it turned out she ended the auction as the most expensive player. 

Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues, two other marquee names, were purchased by Mumbai and Delhi respectively, but Rodrigues was not the only Indian superstar DC purchased as they also secured the services of Shafali Verma. Deepti Sharma, another superstar who was primed to go for big bucks, went to her home franchise UP. 

Among the overseas cricketers, Ashleigh Gardner (3.20 crore) and Nat Sciver (3.20 crore) turned out to be the most expensive players, while the biggest shocks came in the form of Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu, South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt and Australia's Alana King going unsold.