Mumbai Indians (MI) sit atop the Women’s Premier League (WPL), having clinched two of the three titles so far. Yet, with the WPL 2026 mega‑auction looming and only five retention slots, the franchise faced tough choices. And they locked in Nat Sciver‑Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur, Hayley Matthews, Amanjot Kaur, and uncapped G Kamalini.
Mumbai Indians had to part ways with many stalwarts who helped them lift the trophy repeatedly. The WPL 2026 auction on November 27 will be massive as they look to fill the gaps and restore the squad’s balance. With only Rs 5.75 crore remaining in the purse, the biggest hurdle is rebuilding a solid bowling unit once more. They let go the likes of Pooja Vastrakar, Saikia Ishaque and Shabnim Ismail.
While Sciver-Brunt, Hayley Matthews and Amanjot do bring in bowling options, MI still need specialist bowlers who can help them get the grip of the WPL matches. On that note, below we take a look at three bowling options that MI should definitely target at the WPL 2026 mega auction.
3 bowlers that MI should target at WPL mega auction 2026
1. Sophie Ecclestone
It was one of the major releases in the WPL history as Sophie Ecclestone parted ways with the UP Warriorz. Being the best left-arm spinner in women’s cricket, Ecclestone would make Mumbai’s bowling extremely dangerous. She had a great ODI World Cup recently as well, featuring in the Team of the Tournament. With 36 wickets at an incredible economy of 6.68, the England player is the third-highest wicket-taker in WPL history. Yes, she may go for heavy bucks, but if available, MI should definitely go for her.
2. Saikia Ishaque
Saikia Ishaque made her name in the blue of MI when she startled with a four-wicket haul in the first-ever WPL fixture. No one knew much about her but that performance changed her career altogether. The left-arm spinner quickly became a regular fixture for MI. With 25 wickets, Ishaque has more WPL wickets than the likes of Ellyse Perry (14), Shabnim Ismail (20) and Renuka Singh Thakur (13). MI had to release her due to the cap on retention numbers but MI would definitely look to buy her back.
3. Kranti Gaud
Being part of India’s first-ever World Cup win recently, Kranti Gaud would be feeling over the moon. Her stocks could be high but Mumbai has a fascination of having a gun pacer. Kranti can perform that role brilliantly. While she can leak some runs, but the 22-year-old youngster has a great tenacity to bowl with her heart. It it something that we saw at the World Cup as well, where she amassed 9 wickets, including a match-winning three-fer against Pakistan.
Full list of MI’s retentions for WPL 2026
- Retention 1 – Nat Sciver-Brunt (Rs 3.50 crore)
- Retention 2 – Harmanpreet Kaur (Rs 2.50 crore)
- Retention 3 – Hayley Matthews (Rs 1.75 crore)
- Retention 4 – Amanjot Kaur (Rs 1 crore)
- Retention 5 – G Kamalini (uncapped) (Rs 50 lakhs)
- RTM – 0
Purse left – Rs 5.75 crore
MI release list for WPL 2026
Amelia Kerr ✈️, Chloe Tryon ✈️, Jintimani Kalita, Pooja Vastrakar, Saika Ishaque, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Shabnim Ismail ✈️, Amandeep Kaur, S. Sajana, Keerthana Balankrishnan, Nadine de Klerk ✈️, Sanskriti Gupta, Akshita Maheswari, Parunika Sisodia
