WPL 2026 retention: Players retained and released

The list of retained and released players by each team ahead of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) mega auction included plenty of surprises on Thursday.

While Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues were retained by their respective teams, Deepti Sharma, the Player of the Tournament at the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025, was released by UP Warriorz.

While most of the cricket teams executed their WPL 2026 retention strategies to maintain a balanced core, UP Warriorz looked to start afresh with just one retained player.

Each team could retain up to five players - three Indian capped players and either two overseas or two uncapped Indian players. In case a team opted to retain five players, at least one of them had to be an uncapped Indian.

Teams that retained fewer players will have more Right-to-Match (RTM) options and a larger purse going into the mega auction later this month.

Defending champions Mumbai Indians, led by Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur, and three-time runners-up Delhi Capitals, who kept Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues in the side, have retained five players. At the mega auction, they will have no RTM options available.

UP Warriorz, who claimed the wooden spoon last season, went for a contrasting approach with a major overhaul. They retained the uncapped Shweta Sehrawat and will have the largest purse along with four RTMs at the auction to make a squad of at least 16 and up to 18 players.

Gujarat Giants, meanwhile, let go of South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt, who was the top run-scorer at the Women’s ODI World Cup 2025.

Australia's Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning, New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr and South Africa’s Nadine de Klerk were some of the other notable names missing from the retention lists.

WPL 2026 retention: Players retained and released

* Overseas players

Delhi Capitals WPL 2026 retention

DC retained players

Jemimah Rodrigues

Shafali Verma

Marizanne Kapp*

Annabel Sutherland*

Niki Prasad

DC released players

Meg Lanning*

Sneha Deepthi

Alice Capsey*

Arundhati Reddy

Jess Jonassen*

Minnu Mani

N Charani

Shikha Pandey

Nandini Kashyap

Sarah Bryce*

Taniyaa Bhatia

Radha Yadav

Titas Sadhu

Gujarat Giants WPL 2026 retention

GG retained players

Ashleigh Gardner*

Beth Mooney*

GG released players

Bharti Fulmali

Laura Wolvaardt*

Phoebe Litchfield*

Priya Mishra

Dayalan Hemalatha

Harleen Deol

Sayali Satghare

Tanuja Kanwer

Shabnam Shakil

Mannat Kashyap

Meghna Singh

Kashvee Gautam

Deandra Dottin*

Simran Shaikh

Danielle Gibson*

Prakashika Naik

Mumbai Indians WPL 2026 retention

MI retained players

Harmanpreet Kaur

Natalie Sciver-Brunt*

Amanjot Kaur

G Kamalini

Hayley Matthews*

MI released players

Amandeep Kaur

Amelia Kerr*

Chloe Tryon

Jintimani Kalita

Sathyamoorty Keerthana

Parunika Sisodia

Sajeevan Sajana

Yastika Bhatia

Saika Ishaque

Shabnim Ismail*

Nadine de Klerk*

Sanskriti Gupta

Akshita Maheshwari

Danielle Gibson*

Royal Challengers Bengaluru WPL 2026 retention

RCB retained players

Smriti Mandhana

Ellyse Perry*

Richa Ghosh

Shreyanka Patil

RCB released players

Danni Wyatt-Hodge*

Sabbhineni Meghana

Nuzhat Parween

Georgia Wareham*

Kanika Ahuja

Sneh Rana

Renuka Singh

Ekta Bisht

Pramila Rawat

VJ Joshitha

Raghvi Bist

Jagravi Pawar

Charlie Dean*

Heather Graham*

Kim Garth*

UP Warriorz WPL 2026 retention

UPW retained players

Shweta Sehrawat

UPW released players

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