WPL 2026: Retention lists, released players, and purse remaining
What's the story
Gujarat Giants have decided not to retain South Africa's Laura Wolvaardt for the upcoming Women's Premier League (WPL) season. This comes despite her stellar performance in the recently concluded ICC Women's ODI World Cup, where she was the highest run-scorer and led her team to the finals. While Deepti Sharma has also been released, the retention lists include Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, and Jemimah Rodrigues. Notably, UP Warriorz have the biggest purse remaining.
Retained players
List of retained players
Mumbai Indians: Nat-Sciver Brunt (₹3.5 crore), Harmanpreet Kaur (₹2.5 crore), Hayley Matthews (₹1.75 crore), Amanjot Kaur (₹1 crore), G Kamalini (₹50 lakh). Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Smriti Mandhana (₹3.5 crore), Richa Ghosh (₹2.75 crore), Ellyse Perry (₹2 crore), Shreyanka Patil (₹60 crore). Gujarat Giants: Ashleigh Gardner (₹3.5 crore) and Beth Mooney (₹2.5 crore). UP Warriorz: Shweta Sehrawat (₹50 lakh). Delhi Capitals: Jemimah Rodrigues (₹2.2 crore), Shafali Verma (₹2.2 crore), Annabel Sutherland (₹2.2 crore), Marizanne Kapp (₹2.2 crore), Niki Prasad (₹50 lakh).
Team strategy
A look at key takeaways
The retention rules for the WPL allow teams to keep only two overseas players. Therefore, the Giants have chosen to stick with Australia's Beth Mooney and Ashleigh Gardner instead of retaining Wolvaardt. Along with Wolvaardt, India's star all-rounder Deepti Sharma has also not been retained by GG. Despite being named the CWC 2025 Player of the Tournament, she won't be part of the team this season.
Information
DC release Meg Lanning; UPW retain one player
Delhi Capitals have retained Annabel Sutherland and Marizanne Kapp. Therefore, they had to release Meg Lanning, who led them to three consecutive finals (2023, 2024, and 2025). Meanwhile, UP Warriorz have retained only one player.
Rules
A look at retention rules
As per the WPL retention rules, franchises can retain a maximum of three capped Indian players, two overseas players, and two uncapped Indian players. If a franchise wants to retain five players, at least one should be an uncapped Indian player. The WPL had also announced the guideline prices for retention slabs: ₹3.5 crore (Player 1), ₹2.5 crore (Player 2), ₹1.75 crore (Player 3), ₹1 crore (Player 4), and ₹50 lakh (Player 5).
Information
Purse remaining of each franchise
Purse remaining of each franchise - Royal Challengers Bengaluru: ₹6.15 crore, Mumbai Indians: ₹5.75 crore, Delhi Capitals: ₹5.7 crore, Gujarat Giants: ₹9 crore, and UP Warriorz: ₹14.5 crore.