WPL 2023: Mumbai Indians kicks start campaign against Gujarat Giants in opener on March 4
WPL 2023 is set to kick start on March 4, the tournament's inaugural edition. Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians would be getting things underway against Gujarat Giants in the opener.
FollowMumbai Indians (MI) and Gujarat Giants (GG) will meet in a mega opening game of the 2023 Women's Premier League (WPL) on March 4, while the Final will be conducted on March 26, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) declared on Tuesday. Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai and the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai will be hosting 11 matches each in the tournament's inaugural edition, which will have 22 fixtures -- 20 league contests, an Eliminator and the Final -- being played across 23 days.
The opening game and the Eliminator on March 24 will happen in Navi Mumbai, while the Final will be played at Brabourne on March 26. "On Sunday, March 5, 2023, the WPL will have its first double-header day where Royal Challengers Bangalore will square off against Delhi Capitals at the Brabourne Stadium, CCI," the BCCI stated in its release.
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"UP Warriorz will play their first league game against Gujarat Giants at the DY Patil Stadium in the evening. The final league stage game will be played between UP Warriorz and Delhi Capitals on March 21 at the Brabourne Stadium, CCI. 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," added BCCI.
Five sides -- Delhi Capitals (DC), GG, MI, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and UP Warriorz (UPW) -- on Monday splurged their purse, acquiring some of the best cricketers from the international and domestic circuit. India's Smriti Mandhana was the most fabulous buy, selling for a whopping ₹3.40 crore to RCB.
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Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was owned by MI for ₹1.80 crore. Among the overseas players, Australian all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner and English all-rounder Natalie Sciver were the ultimate buys, sold to GG and MI for ₹3.20 crore, respectively. India's ICC U-19 T20 World Cup-winning leader Shafali Verma went to DC for ₹2 crore. Check out the full WPL 2023 schedule here.
(With inputs from PTI)
