WPL Auctions Vs IPL Auctions: A Billion Dollar Legacy Versus A Growing Behemoth – Outlook India

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WPL & IPL auctions are to be held in November and December respectively.
WPL has a total purse of 15 crore as compared to 120 crore in the IPL
WPL teams can retain a maximum of 5 players  to IPL’s 6
IPL auctions are just around the corner, and the cricketing world is buzzing with rumours and speculations surrounding the retention and release strategies of different IPL teams.
However, just before that, we have the Women’s Premier League (WPL) Auctions in the pipeline for the 2026 season and all the teams just released the list of their retained players for the upcoming season, which created a similar buzz as the IPL retention does.
Despite being a nascent cricket league, WPL garnered traction among fans around the world at a rapid speed, fuelled further by the maiden trophy win of the Indian women’s team at the recently concluded ODI World Cup in India. WPL is expected to reach greater heights from here, the biggest cricket market of the world- India is now starting to view women’s cricket not just as an obligation but as a passion.
WPL Auctions vs IPL Auctions: Key Differences
 As they say, half of the IPL is won by teams on the auction table as it decides the strength of your squad for the subsequent season and all the teams strategize for months to make a strong team on the auction table. Auctions also provide an interesting spectacle for the fans as they feel involved with their team as they fight it on the auction table to bag some of the best players to play for them.
As both the auction dates approach, let’s look at some of the key differences between the dynamics of both these auctions that separates the two:
Foreign Player Quota
The rules regarding the foreign players quota are different in WPL from IPL. Where in IPL you are allowed to have 8 players in your team squad and 4 in your playing XI, the number for squad is 6 in the WPL and 5 in the playing XI. However, the main catch here is that in WPL, out of the foreign quota of 6 in the squad and 4 in the playing XI, one player should be from an associate nation.
Size of Team Squad
All 5 teams of WPL can fill only a maximum of 90 slots in the auctions, which means that all the teams will end up with generally 15-18 players in their squad. However, in IPL, teams need a minimum of 18 players in their squad, with the maximum limit going to 25 players. 
Money Pool
IPL is a 10-team tournament, whereas WPL consists of just 5 teams. In IPL, each team gets a total money pool of 120 crore, out of which they have to spend a minimum of 90 crore to build a team of a minimum 18 players, which could go to a maximum of 25 players.
On the other hand, in WPL auctions, each team is provided with a total purse of 15 crore out of which they have to make a team of 15-18 players.
Retention Rules
It is the factor that differentiates the IPL auction from the WPL auctions drastically. On one hand, where WPL retention rules are simple, IPL retention rules are more complex and nuanced.
WPL- A WPL team can retain a maximum of 5 players out of the maximum number of capped Indian players, uncapped Indian players, and overseas players, who can be 3, 2, and 2, respectively. The retention slabs for the players are as follows:
1st slab- 3.5 crore
2nd slab- 2.5 crore
3rd slab- 1.75 crore
4th slab- 1 crore
5th slab- 50 lakhs
If a team retains the maximum limit of 5 players, then a total of 9.25 crore will be deducted from their purse. However, if a team wants to retain a maximum of 5 players but doesn’t want to pay the players exactly as the slab prices, they can do that, but the final amount that will be deducted after will be 9.25 crore only.
Each team has 5 RTM options at their disposal, and for every retained player they lose one RTM each, so a team that has retained the maximum cap of 5 players won’t have any RTM going into the auctions.
IPL- An IPL team has a maximum purse of 120 crore and they can retain a maximum of 6 players before the auctions. However, out of the 6 players, they can only retain a maximum of 5 capped Indian and Overseas players and 2 uncapped Indian players.
The retention slabs are as follows:
1st slab- 18 crore
2nd slab- 14 crore
3rd slab- 11 crore
4th slab- 18 crore
5th slab- 14 crore
If a team decides to retain a maximum of capped players then a total of 75 crore will be deducted from the total purse of the team. The team can decide how they want to distribute the 75 crore among the 5 capped players.
An IPL team also has 6 RTM options at the start which gets deducted for every retained player. If a team retains 3 players, they’ll have 3 RTMs going into the auction, whereas the team with 6 retention will have none.
Get the Latest Cricket News, today’s match Live Cricket Scores, Match Results, and upcoming cricket series & schedule at Outlook India. To follow our special coverage of the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup 2025, News updates, Women’s World Cup Schedule, women’s world cup teams’ Squad, Women’s WC points table, and stats.
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