The third season of the Delhi Premier League (DPL) is almost here. The Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA)-affiliated league is set for a fresh year after two groundbreaking campaigns. The third edition is set to start from July 31 onwards, with the auction scheduled to take place on July 1. Before that, franchises have started to announce their retentions. The biggest release ahead of the new season is Simarjeet Singh, who was the most expensive player in DPL history last year.
Defending champions West Delhi Lions have also revealed their retentions, leaving out former Mumbai Indians player Hrithik Shokeen. Their other retentions are unsurprising, with Nitish Rana set to take charge again, with talented youngsters in Ayush Doseja, Manan Bhardwaj and Ankit Kumar also set to play for them. Last year finalists, Central Delhi Kings (CDK), have retained their breakout star in Money Grewal but let Simarjeet go. Yash Dhull and Jonty Sidhu remain the two biggest names in the franchise.
DPL Auction 2026: Big names released
Last year, the DDCA held the first mega auction of the league. Teams had to retain just one star player after two new franchises – Outer Delhi Warriors and New Delhi Tigers – were added. This time, franchises have been asked to retain a total of nine players, with an addition to use a Right To Match (RTM) card for another (tenth) player at the auction on July 1st.
This could be the reason why Central Delhi let Simarjeet Singh go, as he was the highest-earning player at INR 39 lakh. The franchise might feel that they can get the fast bowler back at a cheaper price since it will be a mini-auction this time around. Simarjeet, who has represented the likes of Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, is the highest wicket-taker in DPL history. He took 18 wickets in the inaugural DPL season before following it up with a superb 20-wicket season.
The two DPL 2025 finalists are the first two teams to announce their retentions. As far as Central Delhi are concerned, they didn’t retain Virender Sehwag’s son, Aaryavir Sehwag, either. Meanwhile, inagural champions East Delhi Riders eight players, letting two huge names in Anuj Rawat and Navdeep Saini.
Delhi Premier League (DPL) 2026 retentions
West Delhi Lions
- Nitish Rana
- Ayush Doseja
- Manan Bhardwaj
- Ankit Rajesh Kumar
- Krish Yadav
- Ravneet Tanwar
- Shubham Dubey
- Anirudh Chowdhary
- Vikas Rana
Central Delhi Kings
- Yash Dhull
- Money Grewal
- Jonty Sidhu
- Yugal Saini
- Aditya Bhandari
- Siddharth Joon
- Gavnish Khurana
- Jasvir Sehrawat
- Tejas Baroka
East Delhi Riders
- Mayank Rawat
- Arpit Rana
- Rounak Waghela
- Hardik Sharma
- Vansh Jetly
- Ashish Meena
- Rohit Yadav
- Vaibhav Baisla
DPL 2026: Teams
- Men’s: Central Delhi Kings, East Delhi Riders, New Delhi Tigers, North Delhi Strikers, Outer Delhi Warriors, Purani Dilli 6, South Delhi Superstarz and West Delhi Lions
- Women’s: Central Delhi Kings Women, East Delhi Riders Women, North Delhi Strikers Women, and South Delhi Superstarz Women
IND W vs AUS W Live Score: Smriti Mandhana vs Lucy Hamilton to kick off match
