New Delhi: Ahead of the 2026 Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction, top Indian players Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Shafali Verma have been retained by their respective franchises. Harmanpreet Kaur will continue with Mumbai Indians, Smriti Mandhana remains with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), while Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma will stay with Delhi Capitals.
In contrast, international stars Ellyse Perry and Meg Lanning along with New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr have been released by their franchises. Additionally, Deepti Sharma, who was set to lead her team in the absence of Australia’s Ellyse Perry, has been released by UP Warriors. The WPL 2026 player auction is scheduled for November 27, 2025.
According to sources, the reigning champions Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals have maximized the retention limit by retaining five players each, while RCB retained four, Gujarat Giants two, and UP Warriors one. The retained players are:
- Delhi Capitals: Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Annabel Sutherland, Merijan Cap, Niki Prasad
- Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur, Nat Shiver Brant, Amanjot Kaur, G. Kamalini, Haley Matthews
- RCB: Smriti Mandhana, Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh, Shreynka Patil
- Gujarat Giants: Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney
- Under WPL retention rules, each franchise may retain a maximum of three Indian internationals and up to two uncapped Indian players. For franchises retaining five players, at least one must be an uncapped Indian. The Right to Match (RTM) system, introduced in WPL 2025, allows franchises to repurchase players who were part of their squads in the previous season.
Each franchise has been allocated ₹15 crore for the auction, with the following retention values:
- Player 1: ₹3.5 crore
- Player 2: ₹2.5 crore
- Player 3: ₹1.75 crore
- Player 4: ₹1 crore
- Player 5: ₹50 lakh
Retaining five players will deduct ₹9.25 crore from the purse, while retaining four deducts ₹8.75 crore, three deducts ₹7.75 crore, two deduct ₹6 crore, and one player deducts ₹3.5 crore.
The retention of these star players ahead of the auction ensures that WPL franchises will continue to have strong cores as they prepare for the next season.
