New Delhi, Nov 5 (IANS) The player retention list for the 2026 edition of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) is set to be released on Thursday, shortly after the conclusion of the fourth T20I between India and Australia in Gold Coast, Queensland.

IANS understands that all five franchises have submitted their final retained players’ list on the deadline day slated for Wednesday, with several high-profile names expected to feature in the retained pool and many of them going into the mega auction, to be held in New Delhi on November 27. “Once the men’s T20I game is over, the WPL retentions will be known officially,” said a source aware of the development.

Each franchise will be allowed to retain a maximum of three capped Indian players, two overseas players, and two uncapped Indian players. If a team chooses to retain five players, at least one must be an uncapped Indian player. The auction purse has been set at INR 15 crore.

Retention slabs have been defined as follows: INR 3.5 crore for Player 1, INR 2.5 crore for Player 2, INR 1.75 crore for Player 3, INR 1 crore for Player 4, and INR 50 lakh for Player 5. The Right to Match (RTM) option will enable franchises to buy back players who were part of their 2025 WPL squads, with a cap of five RTMs per team.

Depending on the number of retained players, the corresponding deductions from the purse will be: INR 9.25 crore for five players, INR 8.75 crore for four, INR 7.75 crore for three, INR 6 crore for two, and INR 3.5 crore for one.

The number of RTMs available will vary accordingly – franchises retaining fewer players will have more RTMs at their disposal. Teams using all five retentions will forfeit the RTM option entirely.

IANS understands that recent ODI World Cup winners Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, and Niki Prasad, India’s captain in winning the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, could be retained alongside overseas all-rounders Marizanne Kapp and Annabel Sutherland. It also means that multiple times World Cup winning Australian skipper Meg Lanning is on her way to enter the mega auction.

While Gujarat Giants are set to retain the Australia duo of Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney, UP Warriorz may only retain Shweta Sehrawat, the leading run-getter in 2023 U19 Women’s T20 World Cup winning campaign for India.

This agency understands that Deepti Sharma, who recently picked the Player of the Tournament award in ODI World Cup, is on her way to the auction after refusing to continue in UP Warriorz, a side she led in WPL 2025 in the absence of current Australia captain Alyssa Healy.

Current champions Mumbai Indians are likely to retain Harmanpreet Kaur, Amanjot Kaur, Nat Sciver-Brunt, and G Kamalini. It will be interesting to see if either of Hayley Matthews or Amelia Kerr is the other overseas retained player.

2024 winners Royal Challengers Bengaluru are likely to retain ODI World Cup winners Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh alongside fellow India team-mate Shreyanka Patil, while Australia’s star all-rounder Ellyse Perry might be their lone overseas retention.

–IANS

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