The upcoming edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL) can be held in advance to avoid a clash with the ICC Men's 2026 T20I World Cup schedule. Normally, WPL is arranged in the February-March window; at the same period, the T20I World Cup is scheduled to take place. As per the latest reports, WPL organizers are trying to conclude WPL 2026 before the highly anticipated ICC event. If things go as planned, then the upcoming edition of the Women's Premier League can be staged during The tournament is likely to start on Jan 6 or Jan 8, 2026, the first week of January 2026.

"The tournament is likely to start on Jan 6 or Jan 8, 2026," media reports claimed. Which means the auction before the tournament has a high chance to be arranged before its usual schedule. Normally, the auction is held in December; if the tournament is advanced, then the auction date also could be arranged earlier, probably in November, though, regarding this, official confirmations are yet to come. 

Mumbai Indians will start WPL 2026 as the defending champion, as they won the last season's final match by defeating Delhi Capitals at the Brabourne Stadium on March 15 by 8 runs. Mumbai Indians was also the winner of the inaugural edition of WPL in March 2023; that time too they defeated Delhi Capitals. Royal Challengers Bengaluru was the champion of the 2024 edition. Apart from these three teams, Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz are the other teams in the WPL. 

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The upcoming WPL edition will be important for every cricketers

The upcoming WPL will be a good stage for cricketers for preparations for the upcoming Women's T20I World Cup, which is scheduled to start from June to July.

Describing the importance of the tournament, team India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said, "Four or five years ago, there was a big gap between domestic and international cricket. But in the last five–six years, with back-to-back matches being telecast, young girls are much better prepared… The WPL has also played a big role in closing the gap."

The Kolkata Knight Riders’ assistant coach, the Trinbago Knight Riders’ head coach, India’s batting coach, Abhishek Nayar, has enhanced his CV before shaking hands with the UP Warriorz for the 2026 season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL). He had a few training camps in the last few years and worked with the players individually, including the captain, Deepti Sharma.

Nayar has a good friendship with Kshemal Waingankar, who is his former team-mate and the COO and director of the UPW side. So when the offer came to him, it was hardly a tough decision to make. It’s his first season of helming the women’s franchise. But he had two training camps under his eye when England got the England side to India ahead of the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup for two weeks.

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“For me, it was an experience like this one, and I never let go of an experience in life. So I took up the challenge. It was very, very awkward for me the first day, because getting the. You're so used to saying 'batsman' all the time, so to start saying batter was my initial challenge. But now I'm getting a hold of it.” Nayar expressed on ESPNcricinfo.

Abhishek Nayar eyes to bring glory for UP Warriorz in WPL 2026

 Nayar finds himself in a unique position. Being the UPW head coach and the KKR assistant coach, he has been in high positions of the IPL and the WPL. He reckoned that the basic structure remained the same, but it would be about enhancing the skills of a player as opposed to men’s, which is mostly about the management.

“With men's cricket, once you start working with elite players, there's less coaching, there's more mentoring because it's more about understanding the mind and not so much the technique. I think with women cricketers today, regarding a coach, there's a lot of excitement because you can help amplify the skill as well as the mindset. You can coach a lot more.” Nayar shed light.

He has already linked up with the backroom staff of the side to formulate plans. They had a training camp and trials in Chennai as he tries to understand the domestic ecosystem.