The Women’s Premier League (WPL) is heading into its most complex and strategically charged auction yet. Ahead of the WPL 2026 mega auction, several franchises took bold calls by releasing some of the league’s most well-known names decisions that surprised fans, stirred debates, and changed the dynamics of the upcoming season.
On the surface, the exit of star players like Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone, Pooja Vastrakar, Renuka Singh Thakur, and Yastika Bhatia appears shocking. But beneath the emotion lies a layer of calculated financial and tactical reasoning that reflects how the WPL is maturing into one of the world’s most strategically nuanced leagues.
At the center of these decisions is the new retention rule framework, which allows teams to retain up to five players but assigns fixed deduction costs from the auction purse depending on the retention slot. These predetermined retention slabs from ₹3.5 crore for the first retained player down to ₹50 lakh for an uncapped player have made it more expensive to retain certain players than to release them and try to buy them back in the auction. This financial phenomenon, known as cost inversion, has shaped nearly every headline release.
The most discussed case is that of Deepti Sharma, released by the UP Warriorz. Deepti wasn’t just one of the league’s most reliable all-rounders she was also the Player of the Tournament at the 2025 ICC Women’s World Cup, a campaign where she delivered 22 wickets and critical runs under pressure. She was also widely seen as the natural successor to Alyssa Healy as UPW’s full-time captain.
Yet, the franchise chose to let her go. The logic is simple: Deepti was originally bought for ₹2.6 crore, but retaining her in the first slot this year would cost ₹3.5 crore against the purse an unnecessary financial loss. Instead, UPW have opted to enter the auction with a larger purse and multiple Right-to-Match (RTM) cards, banking on either reacquiring Deepti at a more reasonable price or rebuilding their squad profile entirely.
The same logic applies to Sophie Ecclestone, the world’s No. 1 T20I spinner. Although she has been one of the most impactful overseas players in the league, UPW decided that locking one of their limited overseas retention slots into an expensive fixed cost structure would restrict their flexibility. Letting Ecclestone return to the auction pool gives them the freedom to restructure their overseas balance, particularly if the team looks to add more batting depth.
Meanwhile, at Mumbai Indians, the story was less about overhaul and more about prioritization. MI used the maximum five retentions, which left them with limited purse room and no RTM cards. The releases of Pooja Vastrakar and Yastika Bhatia were not judgments on quality but necessities born from the cap structure.
Vastrakar, originally acquired at ₹1.9 crore, would have cost more to retain under the slab model, while the wicketkeeping role Bhatia performs may be replaceable at lower auction prices. MI are betting that they can still bring back these players or find comparable replacements without sacrificing core stability.
At Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the release of Renuka Singh Thakur was a classic tactical play. RCB retained four players and held on to their RTM card. While elite Indian pacers are among the scarcest commodities in women’s cricket, retaining Renuka in a high-cost slab did not align with the team’s structural budget. By placing her into the auction pool and keeping the RTM in hand, RCB have given themselves the option to secure her again — but only if the price is right.
No franchise embraced change more aggressively than Gujarat Giants, who have undergone a full reset. Giants not only released their most expensive uncapped player, Kashvee Gautam, who missed the previous season due to injury, but also moved on from Simran Shaikh and Deandra Dottin major investments that did not deliver the expected returns. Instead of defending past spending, Gujarat chose to create maximum auction purse space and enter the 2026 cycle with strategic freedom.
This is a gamble, but it also signals awareness: the Giants are building for the medium-term, not merely reacting to short-term shortcomings.
All these decisions highlight one reality: the WPL has evolved beyond simply assembling the best individual talents. The league has entered a stage where roster construction, purse optimization, balance of roles, and auction timing are equal to, if not more important than, pure reputation.
The shift is similar to the evolution seen in the IPL where the smartest teams have consistently been the ones who understood value, flexibility, and timing, not necessarily the ones who collected the biggest names.
The upcoming auction will now be one of the most high-stakes events in the league’s history. The released stars are not just going back into the pool they are heading into a marketplace where multiple franchises have structured their finances precisely to chase them.
The question is no longer why teams released these players. The question now becomes:
Who will win them back and at what price? What happens next may very well define the balance of power in WPL 2026.
