The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) could be forced to host two fixtures of Women’s Premier League (WPL), on January 14 and 15, behind closed doors as the police will not be able to provide adequate security due to the municipal corporation elections.
With the Mumbai Metropolitan Region going into election on January 15, the police has informed the Board that it won’t be able to depute enough personnel for the WPL fixtures, forcing the BCCI to look for alternatives.
“We may have to host those two matches (on January 14 and 15) without any crowd. We are contemplating that idea after the police intimation, but as of now, no decision has been taken,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia told Sports stars on Monday.
The first phase of WPL Season 4 is being held at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, while the second phase and the final will be played in Vadodara. Being a regular venue for women’s cricket, the DY Patil Stadium draws huge crowd for the WPL matches, and if the BCCI eventually decides to host matches behind closed doors, fans will miss out on the Delhi Capitals (DC) vs UP Warriorz (UPW) game on January 14, and the Mumbai Indians (MI) vs UPW fixture the next day.
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It needs to be seen whether the Gujarat Giants vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) game, scheduled for January 16, is also played behind closed doors. As of now, the official WPL online ticket platform has not listed tickets for sale for matches on January 14, 15 and 16.
However, tickets are being sold for the double-header on January 17, when MI will take on UPW, while DC will play RCB before the tournament moves to Vadodara.
When contacted by this publication, the franchises claimed that they are yet to hear anything from the BCCI on the issue.
Published on Jan 12, 2026
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