Cricket fans, get ready for some major WPL news! The Women’s Premier League 2026 player retention list is set to drop on Thursday, immediately after the fourth India vs. Australia T20 international concludes in Gold Coast. All five WPL franchises have successfully met Wednesday’s deadline, submitting their final lists of retained players. This move signals that several high-profile cricketers will remain with their current teams, while many others will become available for the massive mega auction scheduled for November 27th in New Delhi. The countdown to the auction, which will significantly shape the league’s future, has effectively begun.
A source privy to the proceedings stated that official confirmation of the WPL retentions will be announced once the India-Australia T20I match is over. The WPL has established clear guidelines for player retention, allowing each franchise to hold onto a maximum of three capped Indian players, two overseas stars, and two uncapped Indian talents. A key rule mandates that if a team opts to retain five players, one of them must be an uncapped Indian. The purse for the mega auction stands at INR 15 crore for each team.
Financial guidelines for retentions are tiered: INR 3.5 crore for the top player, INR 2.5 crore for the second, INR 1.75 crore for the third, INR 1 crore for the fourth, and INR 50 lakh for the fifth. The Right to Match (RTM) option provides a strategic avenue for teams to buy back players who were part of their 2025 squads, limited to five RTMs per franchise. The amount deducted from the auction purse depends on the number of players retained, with deductions ranging from INR 9.25 crore for five players down to INR 3.5 crore for one. The availability of RTMs is inversely proportional to the number of retained players; teams with fewer retentions will have more RTM options, while those retaining five players will forgo RTMs altogether.