Kochi: The Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2027 auction will be held in Kochi on Wednesday, commencing at 5:30 p.m., as all five franchises aim to finalise their squads ahead of the tournament’s fifth edition.

A total of 146 players will be put up for bidding, with 27 spots open across the five teams. Prominent Indian players expected to draw interest include G Kamalini, Sneh Rana, and Sushma Verma, alongside Australian stars Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, and Sophie Molineux.

UP Warriorz (UPW), having eight open spots and a remaining purse of Rs 3.75 crore, enter as the most active franchise in the bidding. Mumbai Indians (MI) retain six open slots, though they operate with a reduced budget of Rs 90 lakh. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Delhi Capitals (DC), and Gujarat Giants (GG), the trio that secured playoff berths last season, have kept the majority of their core rosters intact and require only minimal additions.

Defending champions RCB will count on the availability of star all-rounder Ellyse Perry for the upcoming season, focusing their strategy on securing domestic backups to pursue a historic third championship.

Speaking on JioStar's 'Follow the Blues: The Dawn of Captain Smriti', RCB captain Smriti Mandhana spoke on the role of the tournament in developing talent: “The WPL has been a huge benefit in that we have found quite a few players in the WPL, but now it's our responsibility to figure out how we take them forward and make them into bigger match-winners. We definitely have exciting talent in our team right now. We have eight to nine people aged 19-24, which is pretty exciting. They have all played good cricket during the India A series. We have followed everything, and they have played very good cricket. So now it's on us to take them forward and make them lead the way for India.”

Separately, JioStar analyst Veda Krishnamurthy emphasised that domestic wicketkeepers will command significant attention, noting that at least three franchises are seeking primary options behind the stumps.

"I think Indian wicketkeepers, especially, will be in demand, with quite a few teams looking for them. There are a couple of domestic players I'm interested in seeing how they go about things in the auction. Of course, Sophie Molineux is a big name to look forward to, given the kind of experience she brings. She's a match-winner and has already won the WPL with RCB," Krishnamurthy said.

"It will also be interesting to see how things unfold around G Kamalini and which teams look to acquire her, as she's a wicketkeeper as well. The options and the number of slots available are very limited. Teams know exactly what they're looking for, so it's important for them to filter the names from the available cricketers and identify their options. They need to have at least three or four names for each proficiency because the auction can go in any direction," she added.

The fifth edition of the TATA WPL is scheduled to run from January 14 to February 7. Four-time finalists Delhi Capitals, alongside Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz, remain in search of their inaugural title, while RCB and MI will attempt to secure a third championship as teams lock in their final rosters in Kochi.

PTI