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WPL 2026: Nat Sciver‑Brunt, Smriti Mandhana retained, Deepti Sharma released

Friday, 07-Nov-2025, 03:42 AM
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The WPL franchises on Thursday announced their retained players ahead of the January-February 2026 mega-auction. The retention list has already touched off considerable interest, with several star names locked in and a few high-profile releases triggering surprise. Nat Sciver‑Brunt has been retained by Mumbai Indians (MI). Smriti Mandhana has been retained by Royal Challengers Bengaluru as their marquee Indian player. And all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner remains with Gujarat Giants.

UP Warriorz threw a massive surprise by releasing Deepti Sharma and retaining only one player in Shweta Sehrawat. Particularly surprising was the release of Deepti Sharma, as she was the player of the tournament in the recently concluded Women's ODI World Cup.

As per WPL retention rules, each team can retain a maximum of three capped Indian players, two overseas players, and two uncapped Indian players. If a franchise chooses to retain the full five players, at least one must be an uncapped Indian.

Here's the list of players retained by WPL franchises:

Mumbai Indians

Harmanpreet Kaur, Amanjot Kaur, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Hayley Matthews, G. Kamalini

Delhi Capitals

Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Marizanne Kapp, Annabel Sutherland, Niki Prasad

Gujarat Giants

Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, Ellyse Perry, Shreyanka Patil

UP Warriorz

Shweta Sehrawat

Meanwhile, the WPL auction is set to take place on November 27 in New Delhi.

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