India’s ODI World Cup-winning stars Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma are among the marquee names retained by the Women’s Premier League (WPL) franchises ahead of the 2026 mega auction.
In a live show by the broadcasters on Thursday, retentions of all teams were unveiled – comprising of a mix of maximum of three Indian capped players, two overseas players and two Indian uncapped players.
Harmanpreet along with Hayley Matthews, Nat-Sciver Brunt, Amanjot Kaur and G Kamalini are confirmed to be Mumbai Indians’ retained players. The likes of Amelia Kerr, Pooja Vastrakar and Yastika Bhatia along with others are released into the auction pool.
Delhi Capitals, meanwhile, have retained Jemimah and Shafali along with Annabel Sutherland and Marizanne Kapp, and uncapped Niki Prasad. It means the likes of Meg Lanning, Radha Yadav and N Sree Charani amongst others are released.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru, have retained four players – Smriti, Ellyse Perry, Shreyanka Patil and Richa Ghosh. The likes of Sophie Molineux, Renuka Singh Thakur, Sneh Rana and Danni Wyatt-Hodge along with others have been released.
UP Warriorz have pressed the refresh button by retaining only Shweta Sehrawat, the uncapped India batter who won U19 World Cup in 2023. They have let go of Alyssa Healy, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone and Kranti Gaud.
Gujarat Giants on the other hand, have retained Australia duo of Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney, while letting go of the likes of Laura Wolvaardt, Harleen Deol, and Kashvee Gautam.
MI and DC have retained the maximum five players permitted under WPL rules. RCB have retained four, while GG and UPW have retained just two and one player. It also means only RCB, GG and UPW will use the Right to Match card in the mega auction to be held in New Delhi on November 27.
(IANS)
