All Players who are Retained ahead of WPL 2026 Mega Auction
WPL 2026 player retention just got more exciting. India’s World Cup winning stars Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma are among the top names retained by franchises ahead of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 mega auction.
Meanwhile, some big overseas players like Australia’s Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning, as well as New Zealand allrounder Amelia Kerr have been released and will enter the WPL 2026 auction pool.
These are still not the most surprising releases. Deepti Sharma, who was the Player of the Tournament at the 2025 World Cup, has been released by UP Warriorz. She had even captained the Warriorz in Healy’s absence last season but they finished at the bottom of the points table.
According to reports, WPL 2025 finalists, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC) have retained the maximum 5 players allowed under the new WPL retention rules. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have retained 4 players, while Gujarat Giants (GG) have kept 2 and UP Warriorz (UPW) have retained just 1 player.
The following players have been retained ahead of the WPL 2026 Mega Auction:
- Delhi Capitals: Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Niki Prasad
- Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amanjot Kaur, G Kamalini, Hayley Matthews
- Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Smriti Mandhana, Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil
- Gujarat Giants: Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney
- UP Warriorz: Shweta Sehrawat
Each franchise has been given a ₹15 crore purse for the auction, which will be held in Delhi on November 27, 2025.
Under the new guidelines, the salary slabs for retained players are:
- Player 1 – ₹3.5 crore
- Player 2 – ₹2.5 crore
- Player 3 – ₹1.75 crore
- Player 4 – ₹1 crore
- Player 5 – ₹50 lakh
If a team retains all 5 players, ₹9.25 crore will be deducted from its purse. For 4 retentions, ₹8.75 crore will be deducted; for 3 players, ₹7.75 crore; 2 players, ₹6 crore; and for 1 player, ₹3.5 crore.
This means Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians will go into the auction with ₹5.75 crore remaining. Both teams will have between 16 and 18 players in their squads and no Right-to-Match (RTM) cards available.
UP Warriorz have retained uncapped batter Shweta Sehrawat. They will have the largest purse with ₹14.5 crore and 4 RTMs available. Gujarat Giants will enter with ₹9 crore and 3 RTMs restricted to Indian players, while RCB will have ₹6.25 crore and 1 RTM card.