New Delhi, Nov 5 (NationPress) The 2026 Women’s Premier League (WPL) player retention list is poised for release on Thursday, just after the fourth T20I match between India and Australia in Gold Coast, Queensland.

According to IANS, all five franchises have finalized their lists of retained players by the deadline set for Wednesday, featuring several high-profile athletes. Many of these players are expected to enter the mega auction occurring in New Delhi on November 27. A source familiar with the situation stated, “The WPL retentions will be made public once the men’s T20I concludes.”

Each franchise can retain a maximum of three capped Indian players, two overseas players, and two uncapped Indian players. If a franchise opts to retain five players, it must include at least one uncapped Indian player. The auction budget has been established at INR 15 crore.

The retention value structure is 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. Additionally, the Right to Match (RTM) option allows franchises to reacquire players from their 2025 WPL squads, limited to five RTMs per team.

Retention-related deductions from the purse will depend on the number of players retained: 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 fluctuate; franchises retaining fewer players will have additional RTMs available. Teams retaining all five players will lose the RTM option entirely.

Insights suggest that recent ODI World Cup champions Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, and Niki Prasad, who captained India to victory in the U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, are likely to be retained along with overseas all-rounders Marizanne Kapp and Annabel Sutherland. This indicates that multiple-time World Cup winning Australian captain Meg Lanning will enter the mega auction.

The Gujarat Giants are expected to keep the Australian duo of Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney, while the UP Warriorz may only retain Shweta Sehrawat, the leading run-scorer in the 2023 U19 Women’s T20 World Cup.

Reports indicate that Deepti Sharma, who recently earned the Player of the Tournament award in the ODI World Cup, will head to the auction after declining to continue with UP Warriorz, a team she captained in WPL 2025 when current Australian captain Alyssa Healy was absent.

The reigning champions, Mumbai Indians, are likely to retain Harmanpreet Kaur, Amanjot Kaur, Nat Sciver-Brunt, and G Kamalini. It remains to be seen if either Hayley Matthews or Amelia Kerr will be the other overseas retained player.

The 2024 champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru are expected to keep ODI World Cup winners Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, and fellow Indian team-mate Shreyanka Patil, while Australia’s star all-rounder Ellyse Perry might be their sole overseas retention.