Defending champs MI to take on RCB in WPL Season 4 opener on Jan 9
Mumbai (PTI): Harmanpreet Kaur-led defending champions Mumbai Indians will face 2024 winners Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening match of the fourth Women's Premier League on January 9 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
In a first for the tournament, the WPL final will not be held on a weekend, with the summit clash scheduled for a Thursday (February 5), likely to avoid a clash with the men’s T20 World Cup, which begins the same week in India and Sri Lanka. The T20 World Cup opens with a match between Pakistan and Netherlands on February 7 (Saturday) in Colombo.
The 28-day, 22-match WPL will be played across two venues.
DY Patil Stadium, which witnessed India’s maiden women’s ICC global title -- the ODI World Cup win over South Africa earlier this month -- will host the first 11 matches, including afternoon double-headers on January 10 and 17, as per the schedule announced on Saturday.
All the remaining games in this leg will be evening fixtures.
The league will then shift to the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara, which will stage the remaining 11 matches, including the Eliminator on February 2 and the final on February 5.
This is also the first time the WPL will be played in a January-February window as the previous three editions were held in February–March, just before the IPL, often overlapping with international fixtures.
The format remains unchanged: with the five teams -- Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, UP Warriorz, Gujarat Giants and Delhi Capitals -- to play each other twice in a double round-robin.
The top team progresses straight to the final, while the second and third-placed sides face off in the Eliminator for the remaining spot.
Mumbai Indians have won two titles in three seasons, with RCB lifting the trophy in 2024.
Delhi Capitals have finished runners-up in each of the three editions, while Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz are yet to reach a final.
Ten days after the WPL concludes, the Indian women's team will embark on an all-format tour of Australia, featuring three T20Is, three ODIs and a Test from February 15-March 9.
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Next round of Iran-US negotiations expected soon: Pak's Defence Minister
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Islamabad (PTI): Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Monday said that the next round of Iran-US negotiations was expected soon.
Asif made these remarks on Monday, a day after the Islamabad talks failed to clinch a deal.
The 21-hour talks between the US and Iran on Saturday were the first of their kind since 1979 due to the involvement of top-level officials from both sides. The two sides, however, failed to secure a lasting peace deal to end hostilities following their talks in Pakistan over the weekend.
Speaking to the media outside Parliament House, Asif said there had been a sense of satisfaction after the talks that there were no negative developments so far.
“Only positive progress has been observed,” he said, indicating that the ongoing diplomatic efforts were moving in a constructive direction.
The next round of Iran-US negotiations was expected soon, he added.
The Express Tribune reported that responding to a question about whether Pakistan would play a decisive role in shaping the region’s future, Asif said that ultimate decisions rest with Allah.
Vice President JD Vance, who led the US delegation at the negotiations in Islamabad, said the Iranian side did not accept Washington's terms for ending the war even as the US presented its "final and best offer".
Hours after the talks collapsed, US President Donald Trump said on social media that the negotiations with Iran failed as "Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions."
Pakistan led the diplomatic push to bring the two sides to the table, which became possible after an appeal by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif earlier this week, leading to a pause in the fighting.
The conflict began after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, paralysing global energy markets and disrupting trade.
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