The Wankhede Stadium will host the Mumbai leg of WPL 2027 instead of the Brabourne Stadium, a BCCI release stated on Sunday. The dates and fixtures of the Mumbai leg will remain the same as they were when the fixtures were announced earlier this month.
The Brabourne Stadium, part of the Cricket Club of India, was to host 11 games in the second half of the tournament from January 26 to February 7. That included the two knockouts - the eliminator and the final.
"As CCI is also scheduled to host the inaugural ICC Women's Champions Trophy 2027, commencing on 14 February, the interval between the conclusion of the TATA WPL and the start of the multi-nation tournament would not provide sufficient time for the pitches to recover," the BCCI release said.
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The request of change came from the ICC as there is only a week's gap between the end of the WPL and the start of the Champions Trophy, and it was approved by the WPL Committee.
The Brabourne Stadium is also hosting men's games in the ongoing domestic season. It has been the home ground of Railways, who played two matches at the CCI in the first leg of the Ranji Trophy. They will play another match there from January 17 to 20, against Haryana.
This is the first time the Wankhede Stadium will host the WPL, which has been played in Mumbai in the past, but at Brabourne and at the DY Patil Stadium (Navi Mumbai).
Vadodara will kick off the fifth edition of the WPL on January 14 with the opening clash between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). Vadodara will host the first 11 matches from January 14 to 25 before the action moves to Mumbai. All matches will be played from 7.30pm local time.
The closing stages of the WPL clashes with England's tour of Sri Lanka for three T20Is. But senior England players, including captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, will be allowed to miss the bilateral series from February 1 to 5 if their franchises qualify for the final stages of the WPL. Sciver-Brunt (MI), Lauren Bell (RCB) and Sophie Ecclestone (UP Warriorz) were retained by their respective teams.