The second edition of the Women's Premier League 2024 (WPL) will be held in a single state only, Jay Shah confirmed on Saturday. The BCCI secretary dismissed the talk of two different states hosting the WPL 2024 and also revealed that the tournament will take place in February 2024.
Mumbai hosted the first edition of the tournament in March this year with Brabourne Stadium and Dr DY Patil Sports Academy playing venues for all matches. But reports of multi-city tournament emerged after Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Smriti Mandhana's remarks over more venues to further promote women's cricket.
Earlier reports suggested that Mumbai and Bengaluru might host the second edition of the tournament but Shah confirmed that only one state will be selected as venue due to logistics issues.
"It is decided that we will have the tournament in February," Jay Shah said after the WPL 2024 auction on Saturday. "Most probably we will start in the second or third week. As far as the venue is concerned, it will be held in one state only so that it is better logistically. Logistics are very important for us this time, next time we can figure it out.
"We can do it either in Bangalore [Karnataka] also or Uttar Pradesh also. We have so many venues, even in Gujarat, where we have Ahmedabad, Rajkot and after a few years Baroda can build their own stadium. Basically, it is a joint call between the franchises and the BCCI. We will sit together and we will decide. We will let you know. It will be in one state, that is for sure."
Jay Shah also clarified that the BCCI is looking for various venues and Mumbai is not the only option.
"The domestic season is going on, so we will have to see - where the venue is available, we will have it. There are [other] matches happening in Gujarat, Chandigarh, Ranchi… it is not the case that we want to organise matches in Mumbai only," Shah added.
