The five franchises in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) are poised to be revamped, with the BCCI planning a massive auction for the 2026 season. The franchises have been told informally about the auction, which is expected to take place by the end of November.
Teams are waiting for official confirmation from the WPL on the amount of player retention, auction purse, retention slabs, and right-to-match (RTM) cards available. According to, the WPL committee will confirm these judgements, albeit the meeting date has yet to be announced.
The dates for the 2026 edition of the WPL are yet to be determined, while the BCCI has previously stated that the event will take place in January-February. The five-team WPL, which began in 2023, saw Mumbai Indians emerge as the initial champions, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) capturing the title in 2024.
It is understood that three franchises, Mumbai Indians, RCB, and Delhi Capitals, all losing finalists in each of the three WPL seasons so far, were not in favour of a mega auction. These teams reportedly argued that dismantling their squads would be counterproductive after putting effort into building them.
On the other hand, Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz support the mega auction. Both teams have yet to reach a final and see the auction as an opportunity to overhaul and rebuild their squads. A WPL official noted that while they understood the reservations of the three opposing franchises, it was important to have five competitive teams, as an imbalance could harm the league’s brand.
The official also highlighted that franchises like RCB have demonstrated, in the IPL, that they can establish a strong brand identity independent of retained players, though the presence of Indian star Virat Kohli has been leveraged effectively. At the same time, the WPL plans to ensure that teams retain the opportunity to keep their core players.
Reports suggest some teams favoured retaining six or seven players, but the WPL may lean toward allowing five retention. The retention formula will also determine how many RTM cards each team can exercise and the combination of capped and uncapped players.
In the IPL mega auction of 2025, each of the 10 franchises was allowed a maximum of six retention via a combination of direct retention and RTM.
This comprised up to five capped players (Indian or overseas) and up to two uncapped Indian players. The RTM option allows a franchise to buy back a player during the auction by matching the highest bid made for the player by another team once bidding ends. Notably, the RTM rule has never been used in WPL auctions.
The WPL has been widely regarded as a game-changer in women’s cricket, particularly due to the financial benefits it provides players. In 2023, Viacom18 acquired the WPL broadcast rights for INR 951 crore for the 2023–2027 period, with a per-match value of INR 7.09 crore. Indian star batter Smriti Mandhana, the first player to be bought in the inaugural 2023 WPL auction, remains the most expensive buy at INR 3.2 crore.
India
