The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Women have a tough task at hand. The 2024 Women’s Premier League (WPL) champions can retain a maximum of 5 players from their star-studded team before the WPL 2026 mega auction.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has set November 5 as the deadline for the WPL franchise to name their retentions. Of course, it isn’t mandatory to retain even one player since the Right to Match (RTM) card has been introduced.
However, retaining all 5 players would cost a franchise at least INR 9.25 crore, which is more than 60% of the entire purse (15). A maximum of 3 capped Indian players, 2 overseas players, and 2 uncapped Indian players can be retained.
Predicted RCB Women retention list for WPL 2026 mega auction
It’s safe to assume RCB Women will retain their captain, Smriti Mandhana. Ellyse Perry will be the second retention. The Australian legend has the most runs and the 4th most wickets for the franchise. Third will be Richa Ghosh, who is the 3rd highest scorer for them, and there isn’t a wicketkeeper with the same hitting ability as her.
Retention 1 (INR 3.50 crore): Smriti Mandhana (c)
Retention 2 (INR 2.50 crore): Ellyse Perry✈️
Retention 1 (INR 1.75 crore): Richa Ghosh
Retention 4 (INR 1.00 crore): Renuka Singh Thakur
Retention 5 (INR 50.00 lakh): Prema Rawat (uncapped)
RTM: 0
Purse Left: INR 5.75 crore
The fourth retention will be the talking point. RCB Women have the options of Shreyanka Patil, Asha Shobhana, and Renuka Singh. All are among the top 5 wicket-takers for them. But they can only retain one.
Shreyanka and Shobhana both missed the WPL 2025 season with injuries. For the former, injuries have always been a part of her career. Therefore, Renuka is the safest bet.
Coming to the uncapped player, RCB Women don’t have many options. The most promising player they have, who was also in the reserves for the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup, is Prema Rawat. The 23-year-old leg spinner played just 3 matches for them last year and wasn’t that effective, but has shown a lot of promise.
Predicted RCB Women release list for WPL 2026 mega auction
Smriti Mandhana (c), Sabbineni Meghana, Georgia Wareham✈️, Shreyanka Patil (replaced by Sneh Rana), Asha Shobhana (replaced by Nuzrat Parween), Sophie Devine✈️ (replaced by Heather Graham), Sophie Molineux✈️ (replaced by Charlie Dean), Ekta Bhist, Kate Cross✈️ (replaced by Kim Garth), Kanika Ahuja, Danni Wyatt ✈️, VJ Joshitha, Raghvi Bist, Jagravi Pawar
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