BCCI maintained the five-team format for WPL despite rising viewership and stadium attendance.
The Women’s Premier League (WPL) will remain a five-team tournament for the foreseeable future, despite increasing viewership and growing in-stadium attendance. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has decided to take a cautious approach before expanding the league. According to industry reports, WPL 2025 had around 150 million viewers across 22 matches, with the opening match and the final garnering the highest viewership.
“To further strengthen this tournament for the time being, we want to consolidate before we take a call on further addition of any team. There are no immediate plans to add teams,” IPL chairman Arun Dhumal told PTI.
WPL has been following a caravan model, and although the 2025 edition expanded to four cities—Vadodara, Lucknow, Bengaluru, and Mumbai—there is still no home-and-away format in place.
Arun Dhumal expressed optimism about WPL’s future but maintained a cautious stance regarding its expansion. “Within three editions, WPL has grown phenomenally in terms of traction, for in-stadium attendance. All the broadcast numbers are very, very encouraging. And it has given new impetus to women’s cricket worldwide,” Dhumal added.
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Despite the rising interest in women’s cricket, the Indian women’s team is yet to reach the expected level of progress. While players like Shreyanka Patil, Titas Sadhu, and Minnu Mani have shown promise, concerns remain regarding fitness and fielding standards.
Before considering expansion to cities like Chennai, BCCI plans to monitor the growth of the talent pool in women’s cricket. “So, we are hoping this continues to grow. And this augurs very well for not only the tournament but women’s cricket in general,” Dhumal added.
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