The 2026 season of the Women's Premier League (WPL) began on January 9 and while the tournament has started on a positive note with a series of high-octane matches, this week will see a minor blip in the logistics. As per sources, the matches from January 14-16 in Navi Mumbai will be played behind closed doors.
Which means that no crowd will be allowed for these fixtures and the reason for this is the lack of adequate security for the three games in question. The Navi Mumbai Muncipal Corporation election duties are set to be done on January 15 and it will require significant deployment of the police force, that would then leave the WPL in shortage of security on that day and the days before and after the date.
The three games are Delhi Capitals-UP Warriorz (January 14), Mumbai Indians-UP Warriorz (January 15) and Gujarat Giants-Royal Challengers Bengaluru (January 16). This logistical headache could have ideally been avoided, given that the election dates were announced much after the WPL 2026 fixtures.
An official announcement is expected from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on this topic but the tournament's major ticketing platform District has taken off the matches for these three dates. The final day of the Navi Mumbai leg on January 17 will see the resumption of crowd entry with security back on optimal levels. The caravan shall then move to Vadodara for the remainder of WPL 2026.