The deadline for announcing retentions is slated to be November 5.
The Women’s Premier League (WPL) is set to host its first mega-auction for the upcoming season, which will be conducted in the month of November. Having said that, the franchises will now be allowed to retain a maximum of five players ahead of the WPL 2026 season.
The last date for announcing retentions for all franchises is November 5, 2025. The auction window is scheduled to be in between November 25 and 29 respectively. Here’s everything you need to know about the retention, release and auction purse rules.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has stated that a maximum of three capped Indian players, a maximum of two overseas players, and a maximum of two uncapped Indian players can be retained by each team. Additionally, if a franchise chooses to retain five players, one out of them needs to be an Indian uncapped player.
The WPL, for the first time, will allow franchises to exercise the ‘Right to Match’ option for the players that were a part of the squad in the last season. Each franchise would be granted an auction purse of INR 15 Crore for the auction. Moreover, the guidelines for all the retention slabs are decided pre-hand, and teams must adhere to them. The slabs mentioned are: Player 1 (INR 3.5 Crore), Player 2 (INR 2.5 Crore), Player 3 (INR 1.75 Crore), Player 4 (INR 1 Crore) and Player 5 (INR 50 Lakh).
| Retentions Possible | Max. Players Retained | RTM’s Available | Purse Deducted (in INR Crore) | Purse Remaining (in INR Crore) |
| 1 | 5 | 0 | 9.25 | 5.75 |
| 2 | 4 | 1 | 8.75 | 6.25 |
| 3 | 3 | 2 | 7.75 | 7.25 |
| 4 | 2 | 3 | 6.00 | 9.00 |
| 5 | 1 | 4 | 3.50 | 11.50 |
| 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 15.00 |
As one can see in the table above, if a team retains five players, INR 9.25 crore will be taken out from its purse. Similarly, as the number of retained players goes down, so does the amount. But there is an interesting catch! Every franchise can use a maximum of five RTM options. But in the case where a team ends up retaining five players, all their RTM’s would be lost.
Furthermore, the organizing committee has mentioned that the franchises are free to negotiate a different amount than the one mentioned in the slabs. However, if the amount agreed upon is more than the one mentioned in the slab, it will be deducted from the auction purse. Hence, prices could vary based on the amount that is agreed between a player and the franchise.
ALSO READ:
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Mumbai Indians (MI) are two of the most strongest teams in the WPL. While the Women in Blue & Gold have won the title two times, Smriti Mandhana & Co. have managed to put their hands on the title once, in 2024. Having said that, both these franchises have a huge star base, which will take a hit in the WPL mega-auction.
Both the franchises are built on the foundation of some impactful players, who have performed consistently over the last three seasons.
As for the Mumbai Indians, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Hayley Matthews, Amelia Kerr, Natalie Sciver-Brunt, Shabnim Ismail and Yastika Bhatia will be the frontline choices. But, as per the WPL rules, they will have to retain an Indian uncapped player if they wish to go for all five retentions. And this is where their headache begins. The Women in Blue & Gold will look to retain two or three of their most impactful performers being the skipper herself and Sciver-Brunt.
The RCB Women will also have some decisions to make. Skipper Mandhana and Elysse Perry would be definite retentions, and the franchise would also look at Richa Ghosh as one of the favourites. Having said that, Kim Garth and Renuka Singh have delivered a lot with the ball in the WPL in the recent past.
One thing the franchises will have to consider is the age factor for every player. Though the mega-auction will mean that the teams will have to let go of some of their core players, it is also a great opportunity to build a strong core for the next couple of years in the WPL.
For more updates, follow CricXtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
