WPL 2026: India’s WC stars Harmanpreet, Smriti, Jemimah, Richa among likely retained players; Healy, Lanning likely to let go

NEW DELHI: Indian World Cup-winning stars Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma are some of the stars likely to be retained by their respective franchises ahead of next year’s Women’s Premier League (WPL) season.

Aussie stars Meg Lanning (Delhi Capitals), Alyssa Healy (UP Warriorz), and New Zealand star all-rounder Amelia Kerr (Mumbai Indians) are just a few who are likely to enter the auction pool after being released by their respective franchises, as per ESPNCricinfo. Also, the World Cup ‘Player of the Tournament’, Deepti Sharma, who led UP Warriorz in Healy’s absence this year, is likely to be released by the franchises.

As per ESPNCricinfo, two teams, the defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) and Delhi Capitals (DC), have retained five players, the maximum limit set by WPL. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have retained four, Gujarat Giants (GG) have retained two, while UP Warriorz have retained just one.

While the individual amounts for players cannot be confirmed, the following, as per ESPNCricinfo, stand as likely retentions:

–Delhi Capitals: Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp, Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Niki Prasad
–Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amanjot Kaur, G Kamalini and Hayley Matthews
–Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Smriti Mandhana, Ellyse Perry, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil
–Gujarat Giants: Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney
–UP Warriorz: Shweta Sehrawat.

As per WPL retention rules, the teams can retain a maximum of three capped Indian players, a maximum of two overseas talent and a maximum of two uncapped players. If a franchise aims to retain five players, one of them should be an uncapped Indian.

WPL has also, for the first time, allowed the usage of the right-to-match (RTM) option at the auction to buy back a player who was a part of their team in the 2025 season.

Franchises have been given a purse of Rs 15 crores each, and the auction is understood to be scheduled for November 27 in the national capital. WPL also issued the guideline prices for retention slabs (in order): Rs 3.5 crore (Player 1), Rs 2.5 crore (Player 2), Rs 1.75 crore (Player 3), Rs 1 crore (Player 4) and Rs 50 lakh (Player 5).

If a player opts to retain all five players as per the quota, Rs 9.25 will be deducted from the auction purse. In case of four retained players, the deduction would be Rs 8.75 crore, for three retained players, Rs 7.75 crore, for two retained players, Rs 6 crore, and for one retained player, Rs 3.5 crore.

In this case, DC and MI would have Rs 5.75 crores to build up their squad, which consists of anywhere between 16-18 players, and they would not have the privilege of using the RTMs.

Warriorz, whose sole retained player is Shweta Sehrawat, will have the maximum purse of Rs 14.5 crores and four RTMs, in case of GG, they will have three RTMs restricted to only Indian players and a purse of Rs nine crores. In case of RCB, the 2024 champions will have one RTM and Rs 6.25 crores in their purse to splurge. (ANI)