WPL 2026 Auction Live Updates: Shikha Pandey goes to UP Warriorz for six times her base price – Sportstar

Subscribers Only Have you subscribed yet?
Buy Print
Updated : Nov 27, 2025 20:43 IST
Comments
Follow Us
SHARE
READ LATER
Welcome to Sportstar’s live coverage of the WPL 2026 Mega Auction at the JW Marriott Hotel in Aerocity in New Delhi. The auction will get underway at 3:30pm IST and will be telecast live on Star Sports and streamed on JioHotstar. This is Lavanya Lakshminarayanan and I will keep you company through proceedings today. 
Auction Streaming Info:
Major talking points:
DELHI CAPITALS: 3 slots remaining, no overseas (40 Lakh remaining)
GUJARAT GIANTS: 3 slots remaining, 1 overseas (1.35 crore)
MUMBAI INDIANS: 4 slots remaining, 1 overseas (40 lakh)
RCB: 4 slots remaining, no overseas (40 lakh)
UP WARRIORZ: 2 slots, no overseas (75 lakh)
S. Meghana (India) – UNSOLD
Grace Harris (Australia) – (Base price 30 Lakh) – SOLD TO RCB FOR 75 LAKH – Bidding war between UPW and RCB for the explosive allrounder
Amy Jones (England) -UNSOLD
Darcie Brown (Australia) – UNSOLD
Alana King (Australia) – UNSOLD
Vrinda Dinesh (India) – UNSOLD
Jintimani Kalita (india) – UNSOLD
Shipra Giri (India) – SOLD TO MUMBAI INDIANS FOR 10 Lakh
Mamata Madiwala (India) – SOLD TO DELHI CAPITALS FOR 10 Lakh
Milly Illingworth (Australia) – UNSOLD
Happy Kumari (India) – SOLD TO Gujarat Giants for 10 Lakh
Nandini Sharma (India) – SOLD TO Delhi Capitals for 20 Lakh
Heather Knight (England) – UNSOLD
Kim Garth (Australia) – Sold to Gujarat Giants for 50 Lakh
Pratika Rawal (India) – UNSOLD
Yastika Bhatia (India) – Sold to Gujarat Giants for 50 Lakh
Rajeshwari Gayakwad (India) – UNSOLD
Simran Shaikh (India) sold to UP Warriorz for 10 Lakh
Nazma Khan (India) – UNSOLD
Poonam Khemnar (India) to Mumbai Indians for 10 Lakh
Shivali Singh (India) to Gujarat Giants for 10 Lakh
Sahana Pawar (India) – UNSOLD
Shanu Sen (India) – UNSOLD
Alice Capsey (England) – UNSOLD
Saima Thakor (India) – UNSOLD
Ashwani Kumar (India) – UNSOLD
Tara Norris (USA) sold to UP Warriorz for 10 Lakh
Vaishnavi Sharma (India) – UNSOLD
Gargi Wankar (India) – UNSOLD
Sayali Satghare (India) – UNSOLD
Chloe Tryon (South Africa) sold to UP Warriorz for 30 Lakh
Lucy Hamilton (Australia) sold to Delhi Capitals for 10 Lakh
Issy Wong (England) – UNSOLD
Pragati Singh (India) – UNSOLD
Triveni Vasishta (India) – Sold to Mumbai Indians for 20 Lakh
Suman Meena (India) – Sold to UP Warriorz for 10 Lakh
Gautami Naik (India) Sold to RCB for 10 Lakh
Nalla Kranti Reddy (India) sold to Mumbai Indians for 10 Lakh
Aayushi Shukla (India) – UNSOLD
Delhi Capitals: 6 slots left, 1 overseas
Gujarat Giants: 7 slots left, 2 overseas
Mumbai Indians: 7 slots left, 1 overseas
RCB: Six slots left, 1 overseas
UP Warriorz: 7 slots left, 2 overseas
Mumbai Indians: 80 Lakh
Delhi Capitals: 80 Lakh
RCB: 1.25 crore
UP Warriorz: 1.45 crore
Gujarat Giants: 2.45 crore
Here are the 5 updated squads and the remaining purse of all teams after bidding during the Women’s Premier League auction in New Delhi.
WPL 2026 Auction: Here are the 5 updated squads and the remaining purse of all teams after bidding during the Women’s Premier League auction in New Delhi.
Teams now have to nominate 8-10 names they want to see in the accelerated portion. 
Heather Graham (Australia) – UNSOLD
Tejal Hasabnis (India) – UNSOLD
Nicola Carey (Australia) goes to Mumbai for 30 Lakh
Rabeya Khan (Bangladesh) – UNSOLD
Shivali Shinde (India) – UNSOLD
Kanika Ahuja (India) goes to Gujarat Giants for 30 Lakh
Tanuja Kanwer (India) goes to Gujarat Giants for 45 Lakh (there was interest from DC too)
Georgia Redmayne (Australia) goes to Gujarat Giants for 1 crore. RCB was showing interest to get their old player back.
Courtney Webb (Australia) – UNSOLD
Tara Norris (USA) – UNSOLD
Anushka Sharma (India) goes to Gujarat Giants for 45 Lakh, fending off interest from RCB
Komal Zanzad (India) – UNSOLD
Sahana Pawar (India) – UNSOLD
Rahila Firdous (India) to Mumbai Indians for 10 Lakh
Theertha Satish (UAE) – UNSOLD
Salonee Dangore (India) – UNSOLD
Laura Harris (Australia) – UNSOLD
Poonam Khemnar (India) – UNSOLD
Marufa Akter (Bangladesh) – UNSOLD
Lea Tahuhu (New Zealand) – UNSOLD
Eden Carson (New Zealand)- UNSOLD
Rajeshwari Gayakwad (India) – UNSOLD
Fran Jonas (New Zealand) – UNSOLD
Shuchi Upadhyay (India) – UNSOLD
Taniya Bhatia (India) SOLD TO DELHI CAPITALS FOR 30 LAKH
Nuzhat Parween (India) – UNSOLD
UP Warriorz and RCB in a bidding war for the famed Indian pace-bowling allrounder. She has been on the sidelines for a long time due to injury so this is quite a punt. From a base price of 50 Lakh, RCB has the top bid with 85 Lakh. 
RCB has Arundhati and Pooja Vastrakar!
UP Warriorz and Mumbai Indians tussle for the former MI player. From a base price of 30 Lakh we are now touching the 75 Lakh barrier. With Mumbai Indians the top bid remains and it’s a homecoming for Sajana. 
Base price of 30 Lakh. RCB, DC, UP Warriorz in the fray. Goes to RCB eventually for 75 Lakh
40 Lakh base price. Warriorz and RCB in a bidding war. The price is touching a crore now! Warriorz go to 2 crore. RCB jacks up to 2.20 crore. RCB needs a pacer. UP Warriorz goes up to 2.40 crore. Six times more than her base price. GOES TO UP WARRIORZ! Shikha Pandey reunites with Meg Lanning! 
Base price of 30 Lakh. Immediately gets interest from MI and UP Warriorz. 65 Lakh is the top bid from the UP Warriorz. Gujarat exercises its right to match the bid. UP stays at 65, Gujarat matches it and take back their allrounder. 
Capped allrounders now. We start at 50 Lakh for the West Indies allrounder. UP Warriorz and RCB bidding for the imperious batter. She eventually goes to the Warriorz for 80 Lakh
CAPPED BATTERS:
Sneha Deepthi (India) – UNSOLD
Mona Meshram (India) – UNSOLD
Priya Punia (India) – UNSOLD
We would love to see the WPL home and away as well. This caravan format is okay, but it is not ideal. I am sure the BCCI is working on it. I hope we get a bigger window for the WPL as well going forward. It is imminent that either one or two new teams will come in, which is why this is such a short cycle with two WPLs over 14 months. I am sure that the BCCI is planning on adding a team, and maybe with that addition, we move to the home and away format. That would be ideal for the growth of the WPL.
1. Deepti Sharma (UP Warriorz) – INR 3.2 CRORE
2. Amelia Kerr (Mumbai Indians) – INR 3 CRORE
3. Shikha Pandey (UP Warriorz) – INR 2.4 CRORE
4. Sophie Devine (Gujarat Giants) – INR 2 CRORE
5. Meg Lanning (UP Warriorz) – INR 1.90 CRORE
5. Shree Charani (Delhi Capitals) – INR 1.30 CRORE
6. Chinelle Henry (Delhi Capitals) – INR 1.30 CRORE
7. Phoebe Litchfield (UP Warriorz) – INR 1.20 CRORE
8. Laura Wolvaardt (Delhi Capitals) – INR 1.10 CRORE
9. Asha Sobhana (UP Warriorz) – INR 1.10 CRORE
10. Georgia Wareham (Gujarat Giants) – INR 1 CRORE
From set 12, we move into the accelerated portion of the auction. Plenty of names still to come: Shikha Pandey, Arundhati Reddy, Heather Knight, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Deandra Doittin – will all feature here now. 
Priyanka Koushal (India) – UNSOLD
Prakashika Naik (India) – UNSOLD
Jagravi Pawar (India) – UNSOLD
Bharti Pawar (India) – UNSOLD
Parunika Sisodia (India) – UNSOLD
Milly Illingworth (Australia): UNSOLD
Komalpreet Kour (India) – UNSOLD
Happy Kumari (India) – UNSOLD
Shabnam Shakil (India) – UNSOLD 
Nandni Sharma (India) – UNSOLD
Shipra Giri (India) – UNSOLD
Mamatha Madiwala (India) – UNSOLD
Khushi Bhatia (India) – UNSOLD
Prathyoosha Kumar (India) – UNSOLD
Nandini Kashyap (India) – UNSOLD
Sanskriti Gupta (India) GOES TO MUMBAI INDIANS FOR 20 LAKH
Humairaa Kaazi (India) – UNSOLD
Jintimani Kalita (India) – UNSOLD
Amandeep Kaur (India) – UNSOLD
Prema Rawat (India) gets a 10 Lakh bid from Gujarat Giants. RCB wants the right to match. Gujarat says 20 Lakh. RCB is happy to match and Prema stays with RCB.
Yashasri S (India) – UNSOLD
G Trisha (India) – UNSOLD
Sanika Chalke (India) – UNSOLD
Pranavi Chandra (India) – UNSOLD
Vrinda Dinesh (India) – UNSOLD
Davina Perrin (England) – UNSOLD
Disha Kasat (India) – UNSOLD
Arushi Goel (India) – UNSOLD
Deeya Yadav (India) GOES TO DELHI CAPITALS FOR 10 Lakh
Priya Mishra (India) – UNSOLD
Amanda-Jade Wellington (Australia) – UNSOLD
Saika Ishaque (India) – UNSOLD
Alana King (Australia) – UNSOLD
Delhi Capitals and UP Warriorz over the leg spinner. From a base price of 30 Lakh to a bump of 60 Lakh, Asha gets RCB interested now. RCB bumps up the ask to 1 crore. 
It’s between RCB and UP Warriorz now. 1.10 crore to UP Warriorz as it stands. 
Anya Shrubsole picks up the English bowling sensation of the season for 30 Lakh. 
Coming up: Priya Mishra, Linsey Smith, Asha Sobhana and more
Darcie Brown (Australia) – UNSOLD
Lauren Cheatle (Australia) – UNSOLD
Gujarat Giants open the bidding for her at 30 Lakh. No one else is interested and Titas Sadhu will swap DC blues for the Gujarat orange. 
Before Mallika Sagar can even announce her name completely, Nita Ambani has her paddle raised for Shabnim Ismail. 40 Lakh with Mumbai Indians. Looks like Gujarat is interested. Nope. RCB comes in to bump up the price a bit. We’re up to 60 Lakh for MI. 
DC opens the bidding for the Indian quick at 50 Lakh. UP Warriorz has the RTM option. Delhi sticks to 50 Lakh and UP Warriorz accepts. Kranti is back with UP Warriorz
RCB opens the bidding with a 30 Lakh start. MI and RCB and currently in a bidding war. The ask goes up to 85 Lakh now with the Mumbai Indians. RCB says 90 and that’s the winning bid. 
A number of illustrious names here: Shabnim Ismail, Lauren Bell, Darcie Brown and more
Delhi Capitals snaps up Lizelle Lee for 30 Lakh. She joins her old South Africa opening partner Laura Wolvaardt here. 
IZZY GAZE (New Zealand) – UNSOLD
AMY JONES (England) – UNSOLD
UMA CHETRY (India) – UNSOLD
Our reporter Kavita Menon covered the Vadodara leg of the WPL in 2025 and here are a few notes from her reporter diary for Sportstar magazine: 
The Diary’s stint in Vadodara was all about venturing into a multitude of unknowns. After landing in the city on a chilly morning, the excitement and nervousness to cover cricket as someone who reports largely on motorsport was palpable. But finding a day to explore was just as important. 
The small city, as described by one of its very own, wakes up aaram se (slowly) and indulges in a wholesome breakfast before starting its work day around noon. 
Vadodara, much like other developing urban centres in the country, has been subject to many facelifts of late. Little did the diary realise that the resulting uncommon congestion and traffic jams would be its main source of indulging in what the city has to offer. 
Another opportunity was when the diary spent its last few hours in the city after the conclusion of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) inaugural leg with an old colleague. 
The popular Race Course Road, a roundabout lined with some of Vadodara’s hippest shops and restaurants, was the ideal destination to begin from. A Gujarati Thali, recommended as one of the best for a traveller, was devoured in no time. 
The auto rides from one place to another brought out an unpaid tour guide in the friend who was delighted to share facts about every passing building. As an avid cricket enthusiast who has frequented Gujarat’s stadiums, the Kotambi somehow slipped her tongue. 
The BCA Stadium, on the outskirts of the city, was handed the responsibility of getting the much-anticipated third edition of the WPL started. 
Glorious sunsets painted the stadium orange, much like the locals who showed up for the home games in their team’s colours. Gujarat Giants not playing on that day wasn’t an issue, as these enthusiasts turned out in huge numbers to soak in every bit of the action, with some of the world’s best in the fray. 
Vadodara deserves a lot more cricket, as its natives and the diary would agree, and Kotambi is ready for it!
WhatsApp Image 2025-02-20 at 11.58.11 AM.jpeg
“Obviously we went for Lanning, but we are very happy to acquire Laura Wolvaardt in that role. But we would like to have an Indian as captain. Depending on who else we land, we already have our mind made up. Laura will add a lot of leadership to the dressing room, but we are clear about wanting an Indian captain.”
Vivek Krishnan reports from New Delhi
UP Warriorz get Harleen Deol for 50 Lakh. Gujarat doesn’t want the option of retaining. 
Base price of 30 Lakh for the Indian World Cup winner. Gujarat Giants show first interest. RCB joins the tussle and will ultimately bag her for 65 Lakh
30 Lakh base price for the Indian allrounder who had a heartening run with RCB which opened a new gear in her batting repertoire going forward in the year. DC opens the bid. UPW comes in with 35 Lakh. DC hikes it with 50 Lakh with UPW backing out. To Delhi she goes! 
Gujarat Giants opens the bid for the South African allrounder for 30 Lakh. RCB joins the bidding tussle. 35 Lakh. That goes to 55 Lakh with the Royal Challengers. As the gavel is about to come down, Delhi hikes the ask to 60 Lakh. RCB says 65 and they have their player! 
UP Warriorz open the bidding at 30 Lakh. Delhi Capitals comes into the fray for their former player. Yet again, it’s the two neighbouring territories sparring for players. The ask goes beyond 1.10 crore. UPW pushes that to 1.20. 1.30 to DC. 
RCB opens the bidding at 30 Lakh. A bidding war ensues with Delhi Capitals. We’re up to 75 Lakh for DC with RCB continuing to raise the stakes. RCB pushes the ask beyond the 1 Crore mark. 1.30 CRORE TO DELHI is the best bid. UP Warriorz is given the option to think about using the RTM. UPW says no. DC has the imperious Windies allrounder! 
Registered at a base price of 30 Lakh, no takers for the big-hitting Aussie
Coming up: Nadine de Klerk, Harleen Deol, Grace Harris, Chinelle Henry, Sneh Rana, N Shree Charani, Radha Yadav
RCB comes in with an opening bid of 40 Lakh. No other bids. UPW has the right to match. 60 LAKH says RCB as they are asked to raise their best bid. UP Warriorz gladly takes her back. 
RCB manages to snap up Georgia Voll for 40 Lakh it seems like. UPW has the RTM option. Will they take it? Yes. RCB is happy to bump up to 60 Lakh. UP is out of the race. The talented Brisbane batter will head to RCB for 60 Lakh. 
UP Warriorz gets the bidding started at her base price of 50 Lakh. 55 says RCB. 60 says UPW. 65 says RCB. 70 for UP. 75 for RCB. 80 for UPW. 85 says RCB. 90 says UPW. 95 for RCB. 1 crore says UP. 1.10 says RCB. 
Expected acceleration. UPW says 1.20 for the talented left-handed Aussie. 
South Africa’s mercurial opener, who can be quite a hit and a miss with the bat, understandably goes unsold. 
Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants in the fray for Bharti Fulmali. 35 Lakh now with Mumbai Indians, it seems. But UP Warriorz comes in with 40 Lakh. MI goes up to 45 Lakh. Gujarat Giants exercise their right to match option. MI says 70 Lakh, Gujarat is happy to match it. Back to the Giants she goes. 
Meghana was with RCB last season but will find no takers in the auction for the timebeing
Coming up are names like Tazmin Brits, Bharti Fulmali, Phoebe Litchfield, S Meghana, Koran Navgire and Georgia Voll
“Pleased to have Deepti back. Expected her to be in this price range”
We have a new coach at the helm. Wanted to give him a clean slate and have him build his vision.”
Vivek Krishnan reports from the venue in New Delhi
1. Sophie Devine – 50 lakh – 2 crore – Gujarat Giants
2. Deepti Sharma – 50 lakh – 3.20 crore – UP Warriorz (Right to Match)
3. Amelia Kerr – 50 lakh – 3 crore – Mumbai Indians
4. Renuka Singh – 40 lakh – 60 lakh – Gujarat Giants
5. Sophie Ecclestone – 40 lakh – 85 lakh – UP Warriorz (Right to Match)
6. Meg Lanning – 50 lakh – 1.90 crore – UP Warriorz
7. Laura Wolvaardt – 30 lakh – 1.10 crore – Delhi Capitals
Quite a few takeaways from this first round of auction activity:
RCB gives the opening bid for the South African captain. A bidding war ensues with Delhi Capitals. DC backs off with the bid at 90 Lakh for Wolvaardt with RCB. DC spikes that to 1.10 CRORE. SOLD!
50 lakh is her base price. The former DC and Australia captain triggers a bidding war between Delhi Capitals and UP Warriorz. The ask crosses 1 crore. 1.10 to UP. 1.20 to Delhi. 1.30 to UP. 1.40 to Delhi. This to and fro continues and we’re at 1.70 with the Warriorz which goes up to 1.90. Delhi backs off. 
Deepti Sharma and Meg Lanning in the same team. Fascinating! 
RCB and Delhi Capitals spar for the England spinner. The ask goes up from 50 to 85 Lakh. UP Warriorz exercise their right to match option. Delhi sticks to 85 Lakh and UP gladly matches that. She heads back to the UP-based side.
Gujarat Giants come in for the opening bid of 40 Lakh. UP Warriorz say 45. Gujarat eventually bumps that up to 60 Lakh. UP bows out. TO THE GIANTS SHE GOES!
A bidding war for the New Zealand spin-bowling allrounder between Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz. The ask sees the bid spike to 3 CRORE with MI with the bid. KERR STAYS WITH THE MUMBAI INDIANS. MI didn’t even need to use the RTM.
No bids for her base price for the Indian allrounder so far. 50 Lakh is her primary ask. DC chimes in. No one else is interested. UP Warriorz has the option to match the bid and they do. Now the ball is in Delhi’s court. PARTH DECLARES – 3.2 CR! 
From the newsroom, a Delhi fan says: “Why is it always DC?” Haha
UP Warriorz accept the bid! DEEPTI SHARMA STAYS WITH HER HOME FRANCHISE. She is the second most expensive Indian in WPL history
e077abbdb03829b2990cddc896d4a712.jpg
We begin bidding for the New Zealand allrounder for INR 50 Lakh. RCB and Gujarat Giants spar for her, taking the asking rate past the 1 crore mark. DC hikes the ask to 1.10 cr. Gujarat is ready to play ball – 1.20. DC goes to 1.30. Giants take it to 1.60 cr. Delhi happy to bring that to 1.70. 
Big money for a legend of the game right up front. She brings handy medium pace along with her leadership abilities and explosive batting prowess. She’s a riot off the field too. DC now with a bid of 1.90. 
2 crore say the Giants. Delhi bows out. New Zealand’s World Cup-winning captain will don the orange of the Gujarat Giants.
WESDGSDA.jpg
Australian captain and wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy goes unsold. No takers on first call for the explosive opening batter
Sophie Devine
Sophie Ecclestone
Alyssa Healy
Amelia Kerr
Meg Lanning
Deepti Sharma
Renuka Singh
Laura Wolvaardt
The fourth edition will start on January 9 with the final being played on February 5
Venues: Mumbai (DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai) and Vadodara
Teams are ready. We spot Anya Shrubsole, RCB’s new bowling coach, Lisa Keightley, MI’s new head coach (previously with DC), and Abhishek Nayar, the new UP Warriorz head coach. 
The Right to Match (RTM) option has been introduced, allowing franchises to match the highest bid for a former player during the auction and reacquire her.
Here is a look at some of the players on whom teams could potentially exercise the RTM option at the WPL 2026 auction:
UP Warriorz (4 RTMs) — Alyssa Healy, Deepti Sharma, Kiran Navgire, Sophie Ecclestone
Gujarat Giants (3 RTMs) — Laura Wolvaardt, Phoebe Litchfield, Harleen Deol
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (1 RTM) — Renuka Singh Thakur
Capped Indians – 52
Capped Overseas – 66
Uncapped Indian – 142
Uncapped overseas – 17
The team with the cleanest slate at the auction, UP Warriorz enters the exercise with just ONE retention: young Shweta Sehrawat. Will be exciting to see how new coach Abhishek Nayar crafts his squad and if local hero Deepti Sharma finds her way back to this setup.
Here is the list of players the franchise has retained ahead of the WPL 2026 Mega Auction:
Michael Klinger’s Giants wants a fresh outfit that he builds from scratch evidently. He has retained two big trump cards, the two Aussies Ash Gardner and Beth Mooney. How will Giants build around them? Exciting day awaits this franchise at the auction. 
Here is the list of players the franchise has retained ahead of the WPL 2026 Mega Auction:
PURSE REMAINING – INR 9 crore
G6v6UHba0AIBxjS.jpg
The three-time runner-up has retained four players, with a heartening backing of young Niki Prasad grabbing the headlines. An U-19 World Cup-winning captain for team India, Niki has also been a formidable force with the bat in the Indian domestic scene. 
A notable ommission for DC was their skipper Meg Lanning, who has not been retained. 
Here is the list of players the franchise has retained ahead of the WPL 2026 Mega Auction:
PURSE REMAINING: INR 5.70 CRORE
G5Em6i5bcAA455I.jpg
2024 champion RCB has retained four players, the most striking of those being the retention of off-spin-bowling allrounder Shreyanka Patil who has had some bad luck recently with injuries.
Here is the list of players the franchise has retained ahead of the WPL 2026 Mega Auction:
PURSE REMAINING: INR 6.15 crore
G6vHvjjakAAZb8R.jpg
Two-time champion Mumbai Indians has retained five players, which takes away INR 9.2 CR from the total purse of INR 15 CR. 
Here is the list of players the franchise has retained ahead of the WPL 2026 Mega Auction:
PURSE REMAINING: INR 5.75 crore
G6g3Wq2aIAA0Z_X.jpg
image (16).jpg
Australia’s Jess Jonassen has withdrawn from the WPL Mega auction to work on managing a longtstanding shoulder injury. She was part of Delhi Capitals in the three seasons of WPL gone by. A five-time T20 World Cup winner, Jonassen has played over 200 international matches for Australia across formats. 
Mallika Sagar is one of India’s most prominent auctioneers and a trailblazer in sports auctions. She enters the spotlight once again as the auctioneer for the Women’s Premier League 2026 auction, continuing her growing association with elite cricket events.
Sagar made history in 2023 when she became the first woman to serve as an auctioneer in the Indian Premier League, conducting the mini-auction in Dubai. She followed that up by officiating the IPL 2025 mega auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in November 2024.
Her journey in sports auctions began earlier, in 2021, when she became the first female auctioneer of the Pro Kabaddi League. The breakout moment in cricket came with her confident handling of the inaugural Women’s Premier League auctions in 2023.
Born into a business family in Mumbai, Sagar studied art history at Bryn Mawr College in the US. Her introduction to auctioneering, as she has often recalled, came through an unlikely source: reading a book featuring a senior auctioneer as its protagonist.
Her professional career took off in 2001 at Christie’s in New York, one of the world’s leading international auction houses. By the age of 26, she was working in Christie’s international art and luxury business, becoming the first Indian woman auctioneer to hold such a position at the firm. She later continued her work in India with institutions such as Pundole’s Art Gallery in Mumbai.
Here’s an explainer on all you need to know about the new player regulations ahead of the mega auction:
How many players can a team retain for the WPL 2026 season?
A team is permitted to retain five players from its current squad, either through direct retention or by utilising the Right to Match (RTM). As per the rules, a franchise can retain up to three capped Indian players, and no more than two overseas players.
How many RTMs are available with a team for WPL 2026 auction?
A team can use a maximum of five Right to Match (RTM) cards, but the exact number will depend on how many players the team retains before the auction. For instance, if a franchise retains two players, it will have three RTMs available during the mega auction.
Who is an uncapped player in WPL 2026 auction?
A player who has not debuted for their national team is classified as an uncapped player. This also means that players who have represented the ‘A’ team against international sides will fall under the uncapped category.
What are the retention slabs for WPL 2026 auction?
The auction purse, fixed at Rs. 15 crore, has different slabs: Rs. 3.5 crore for Player 1, Rs. 2.5 crore for Player 2, Rs. 1.75 crore for Player 3, Rs. 1 crore for Player 4 and Rs. 50 lakhs for Player 5.
Will there be Impact Player rule in WPL 2026?
No, the Impact Player rule will not be included in the WPL 2026 season. The player substitution system used in the Indian Premier League has never featured in the WPL so far.
It’s been a fantastic year for women’s cricket in India. India is the reigning U-19 T20 and Senior ODI World Champion. India also triumphed in the inaugural Blind Women’s T20 World Cup a few days ago. Fittingly, the first-ever mega auction for the Women’s Premier League is now here to keep the momentum going. 
The WPL is three seasons old, with Mumbai Indians winning two titles (2023,2025) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru emerging victorious in 2024. Much of the work that goes into building a championship-winning side happens at the auction. Time to see who comes out on top this time around, from the auction table to the podium! Stay with us for action as it happens. 
Comments
Published on Nov 27, 2025
WPL Auction /
Women's Premier League
BACK TO TOP
Terms & conditions  |  Institutional Subscriber
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment

source