As the Women’s Premier League (WPL 2026) entered the first mega auction since its inception, retentions played a key role as the teams wanted to retain their core and build around them. There were also teams which wanted a fresh start. Announced on November 5, 2025, the five franchises collectively retained just 17 players, including seven overseas stars and three uncapped Indians. The retention decisions were also influenced by recent performances, including India’s triumphant ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 campaign.
Defending champions Mumbai Indians and perennial finalists Delhi Capitals maximised their allowances by retaining five players each. They prioritised continuity with cores built around captains like Harmanpreet Kaur and dynamic all-rounders such as Nat Sciver-Brunt and Annabel Sutherland. Royal Challengers Bengaluru held onto four key performers, including Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry, while Gujarat Giants kept two overseas stalwarts.
In contrast, UP Warriorz opted for a bold rebuild, retaining only one uncapped talent. Notable releases, such as Deepti Sharma, Meg Lanning, Alyssa Healy, Amelia Kerr, and Laura Wolvaardt, injected star power into the auction pool. With new rules introducing Right-to-Match (RTM) cards and a ₹15 crore purse per team, these retentions balanced stability with fresh opportunities, promising intense bidding wars and reshaped squads for the upcoming campaign.
WPL 2026 Retained Players List (Team-Wise)
With BCCI putting a retention cap of five players per team, five franchises retained a combined of just 17 players. Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals opted to retain five players each, while UP Warriorz went with just one retention.
Delhi Capitals Retained Players 2026
| Player Name | Role | Country | Salary (Rs Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jemimah Rodrigues | Batter | India | 2.20 |
| Shafali Verma | Batter | India | 2.20 |
| Annabel Sutherland | All-rounder | Australia | 2.20 |
| Marizanne Kapp | All-rounder | South Africa | 2.20 |
| Niki Prasad | Batter | India | 0.50 |
Gujarat Giants Retained Players 2026
| Player Name | Role | Country | Salary (Rs Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashleigh Gardner | All-rounder | Australia | 3.50 |
| Beth Mooney | WK-Batter | Australia | 2.50 |
Mumbai Indians Retained Players 2026
| Player Name | Role | Country | Salary (Rs Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natalie Sciver-Brunt | All-rounder | England | 3.50 |
| Harmanpreet Kaur | Batter | India | 2.50 |
| Hayley Matthews | All-rounder | West Indies | 1.75 |
| Amanjot Kaur | All-rounder | India | 1.00 |
| G Kamalini | WK-Batter | India | 0.50 |
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Retained Players 2026
| Player Name | Role | Country | Salary (Rs Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smriti Mandhana | Batter | India | 3.50 |
| Richa Ghosh | WK-Batter | India | 2.75 |
| Ellyse Perry | All-rounder | Australia | 2.00 |
| Shreyanka Patil | All-rounder | India | 0.60 |
UP Warriorz Retained Players 2026
| Player | Role | Country | Salary (Rs Cr) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shweta Sehrawat | Batter | India | 0.50 |
WPL 2026 Released Players List (Team-Wise)
Delhi Capitals Released Players 2026
Meg Lanning (Australia), Sneha Deepthi (India), Alice Capsey (England), Arundhati Reddy (India), Jess Jonassen (Australia), Minnu Mani (India), N Charani (India), Shikha Pandey (India), Nandini Kashyap (India), Sarah Bryce (Scotland), Taniyaa Bhatia (India), Radha Yadav (India), Titas Sadhu (India)
Gujarat Giants Released Players 2026
Bharti Fulmali (India), Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa), Phoebe Litchfield (Australia), Priya Mishra (India), Dayalan Hemalatha (India), Harleen Deol (India), Sayali Satghare (India), Tanuja Kanwer (India), Shabnam Shakil (India), Mannat Kashyap (India), Meghna Singh (India), Kashvee Gautam (India), Deandra Dottin (West Indies), Simran Shaikh (India), Danielle Gibson (England), Prakashika Naik (India)
Mumbai Indians Released Players 2026
Amandeep Kaur (India), Amelia Kerr (New Zealand), Chloe Tryon (South Africa), Jintimani Kalita (India), Sathyamoorty Keerthana (India), Parunika Sisodia (India), Sajeevan Sajana (India), Yastika Bhatia (India), Saika Ishaque (India), Shabnim Ismail (South Africa), Nadine de Klerk (South Africa), Sanskriti Gupta (India), Akshita Maheshwari (India), Danielle Gibson (England)
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Released Players 2026
Danni Wyatt-Hodge (England), Sabbhineni Meghana (India), Nuzhat Parween (India), Georgia Wareham (Australia), Kanika Ahuja (India), Sneh Rana (India), Renuka Singh (India), Ekta Bisht (India), Pramila Rawat (India), VJ Joshitha (India), Raghvi Bist (India), Jagravi Pawar (India), Charlie Dean (England), Heather Graham (Australia), Kim Garth (Australia)
UP Warriorz Released Players 2026
Kiran Navgire (India), Vrinda Dinesh (India), Alyssa Healy (Australia), Georgia Voll (Australia), Deepti Sharma (India), Grace Harris (Australia), Poonam Khemnar (India), Sophie Ecclestone (England), Tahlia McGrath (Australia), Uma Chetry (India), Saima Thakor (India), Gouher Sultana (India), Anjali Sarvani (India), Rajeshwari Gayakwad (India), Arushi Goel (India), Kranti Goud (India), Alana King (Australia), Chinelle Henry (West Indies)
WPL 2026 Retention Rules & Guidelines
The Women’s Premier League introduced structured retention rules for its first WPL 2026 mega auction. These rules aimed to balance squad continuity with competitive rebuilding. Each franchise could retain a maximum of 5 players from their previous squad. The auction purse was also revised to Rs 15 crore per team.
Restrictions:
- Maximum 3 capped Indian players.
- If retaining the full 5 players, at least one must be an uncapped Indian player.
Retained players’ salaries deducted from this purse based on fixed slabs (guideline prices; teams could negotiate higher, with excess deducted additionally):
- 5 players: ₹9.25 crore (remaining: ₹5.75 crore)
- 4 players: ₹8.75 crore
- 3 players: ₹7.75 crore
- 2 players: ₹6 crore
- 1 player: ₹3.5 crore
Right-to-Match (RTM) Cards: For the first time in WPL history, teams could use RTM cards during the mega auction to buy back released players from their 2025 squad by matching the highest bid.
- The number of RTM cards depended on pre-auction retentions. For example,
- 5 direct retentions: 0 RTM
- 4 direct retentions: 1 RTM
- 3 direct retentions: 2 RTM
Biggest Retentions for WPL 2026
- Smriti Mandhana (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) – ₹3.5 crore: RCB’s captain and star opener was their top retention, reflecting her leadership and consistent performances.
- Nat Sciver-Brunt (Mumbai Indians) – ₹3.5 crore: The England all-rounder was MI’s priority retention ahead of even captain Harmanpreet Kaur.
- Ashleigh Gardner (Gujarat Giants) – ₹3.5 crore: The Australian all-rounder headlined GG’s short retention list as their primary overseas pick.
- Richa Ghosh (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) – ₹2.75 crore: The wicketkeeper-batter commanded a premium above the standard slab, underscoring her explosive batting.
- Harmanpreet Kaur (Mumbai Indians) – ₹2.5 crore: India’s captain and MI’s leader was retained strongly, with reports indicating a high value despite the slab.
WPL Auction 2025 Purse Remaining
| Team | Remaining purse (Rs Cr) | Available Slots | Overseas Slots | Available RTM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DC | 5.7 | 13 | 4 | 0 |
| GG | 9 | 16 | 4 | 3 |
| MI | 5.75 | 13 | 4 | 0 |
| RCB | 6.15 | 14 | 5 | 1 |
| UPW | 14.5 | 17 | 6 | 4 |
FAQs on WPL Retention 2026
BCCI set November 5, 5 PM as the deadline to announce the retention list for WPL 2026.
As per BCCI guidelines, each team could retain a maximum of five players, including an uncapped player.
Both Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals retained five players each, including an uncapped Indian player each.
BCCI introduced retention slabs for WPL 2026. The 1st player would cost Rs 3.5 Cr, 2nd player would cost 2.5 Cr, 3rd player would cost 1.75 Cr and the 4th player would cost 1 Cr. For uncapped players, Rs 50 lakh would be deducted.
