Franchises have retained several major players, including India's World Cup-winning stars Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma, ahead of the 2026 Women's Premier League (WPL) mega auction, a report has said.
Deepti Sharma from India, Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning from Australia, and Amelia Kerr from New Zealand are among the other players released by franchises, according to ESPNcricinfo.
Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals, two out of the five franchises, have retained the maximum number of players allowed, five, while Royal Challengers Bengaluru have retained four, Gujarat Giants are holding on to two and UP Warriorz have only one retained player.
As per WPL policy, teams can hold on to a maximum of three capped Indian players, two overseas players and a total of two uncapped Indian players. Additionally, if a team decides to retain five players, at least one of those players must be an Indian cricketer without a cap.
The WPL also introduced a significant development for the 2026 season, the Right-to-Match regime (or "RTM"). If a franchise wants to acquire a player who was a member of their 2025 squad, they can RTM the player by matching the highest bid at auction.
(By PTI Inputs)
