WPL 2026 Mega Auction: Live Blog

Jess Jonassen withdraws from auction

Australia all-rounder Jess Jonassen has withdrawn from the mega auction due to injury. Franchises were informed of her removal, reducing the auction list to 276 players. Jonassen played 24 WPL games for Delhi Capitals, scoring 295 runs at 138.50 and taking 33 wickets at 7.74 economy.

WPL 2026 Auction build-up

Deepti Sharma, Alyssa Healy, and Laura Wolvaardt headline the eight-player marquee set. The group also includes Sophie Devine, Sophie Ecclestone, Amelia Kerr, Meg Lanning, and India's Renuka Singh. Renuka has a base price of INR 40 lakh, Wolvaardt INR 30 lakh, and the rest INR 50 lakh.

Overall, 19 players listed themselves at the highest reserve price, including Phoebe Litchfield, Harleen Deol, Uma Chetry, Pooja Vastrakar, and Georgia Wareham. There are 73 slots (23 overseas) available across five franchises, with 83 overseas players, 155 uncapped names, and four from Associate nations in the pool.

India leads with 194 entrants, followed by Australia (23) and England (22). UP Warriorz, having retained only Shweta Sehrawat, enter with the largest purse—INR 14.5 crore. Eight RTM cards will be in play, four with the Warriorz.

Retentions and releases recap

Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz made significant moves on retention day. GG released Wolvaardt despite her World Cup form, retaining Australians Beth Mooney and Ashleigh Gardner. UPW reset by retaining only one player, excluding Deepti Sharma and Alyssa Healy.

Marquee Indian stars—Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh, and Jemimah Rodrigues—were all retained as expected.

Delhi Capitals released skipper Meg Lanning after three consecutive finals, retaining Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Marizanne Kapp, Annabel Sutherland, and Niki Prasad. Mumbai Indians kept faith in young G Kamalini and retained Nat Sciver-Brunt at a higher price than captain Harmanpreet Kaur.