With a massive auction planned for the 2026 season, the BCCI is preparing to overhaul the five Women’s Premier League (WPL) teams. The auction is expected to take place by the end of November, and the franchises have been notified informally about it.
Regarding the number of retention slabs, the auction purse, the number of right-to-match (RTM) cards available, and the number of player retentions, teams are awaiting official confirmation from the WPL. Although the meeting date has not yet been set, an ESPNcricinfo article states that the WPL committee will make these final selections.
The dates for the 2026 WPL have similarly not been finalised, despite the BCCI’s prior indications that the competition would occur in January or February. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the title in 2024 after the Mumbai Indians became the first champions of the five-team WPL, which was introduced in 2023.
It is said that three teams—the Delhi Capitals, RCB, and Mumbai Indians—who have all lost in the three WPL seasons thus far opposed a huge auction. After making the effort to assemble their squads, these teams allegedly contended that it would be ineffective to dismantle them.
The UP Warriorz and Gujarat Giants, however, back the massive auction. As neither club has advanced to the final, they view the auction as a chance to reassemble their teams. There should be five competitive clubs because an imbalance might damage the league’s reputation, according to a WPL official, who also acknowledged the concerns of the three opposing teams.
Although the presence of Indian star Virat Kohli has been effectively utilised, the official also pointed out that teams like RCB have shown in the IPL that they can create a strong brand identity without the help of retained players.
The WPL also intends to guarantee that teams will continue to have the chance to retain their key personnel.
The WPL may tilt towards permitting five players to be retained, despite reports that some teams preferred to keep six or seven players. Along with the number of RTM cards each side can exercise, the retention formula will also decide the mix of capped and uncapped players.
A maximum of six retentions, combining direct retention and RTM, were permitted for each of the ten franchises in the 2025 IPL mega auction. This included a maximum of two uncapped Indian players and five capped players, either from India or elsewhere. By matching another team’s highest bid for the player at the end of the auction, a club can purchase a player back through the RTM option. Remarkably, Women’s Premier League auctions have never applied the RTM rule before.
Many people believe that the Women’s Premier League has revolutionised women’s cricket, especially because of the financial rewards it offers participants. Viacom18 purchased the WPL broadcast rights in 2023 for INR 951 crore, or INR 7.09 crore per match, for the 2023–2027 season. At INR 3.2 crore, Indian star batter Smriti Mandhana, who was the first player purchased at the first 2023 WPL auction, is still the most expensive purchase.
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