The 2026 season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) will be the fourth edition of arguably the most high-profile T20 franchise competition in women’s cricket. And for the first time since the league’s inception in 2023, a mega auction was held ahead of the start of the competition.
After the first-ever auction, the past two seasons have seen all the teams retain a majority of their squads before mini-auctions. However, this time around, a team could only retain a maximum of five players.
Today, we will look at the three-time finalists, Delhi Capitals, the players they retained, and the buys they made in the mega-auction.
First up, the retentions. For a team that finished on top of the league table and made it to the final each season for the last three years, it is only natural that they would want to keep hold of as much of their squad as possible. The Capital did just that, using all five of their retentions.
The total purse for each team to build their squad is Rs. 15 crore. The first retention guideline price is Rs. 2.5 crore, for the second is Rs. 2.5 crore, the third being Rs. 1.75 crore, the fourth being Rs. 1 crore, and the fifth retention priced at Rs. 50 lakh. A team can, at max, retain only three Indian and two overseas players. If a team does use all five retention slots, they have to use one of them for an uncapped player.
However, the guideline price is just a suggestion. The rule states, like in the IPL, the teams need to spend an allotted amount of money for each retention. And thus, for five retentions, a team needs to spend Rs. 8.25 crore.
The Delhi Capitals picked a unique approach, using Rs. 9.30 crore to make their five retention. While they paid the uncapped Indian Niki Prasad the guidelines 50 lakh, the first four retentions, those being Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Annabel Sutherland, and Marizanne Kapp, were paid equal amounts, that being Rs. 9.20 each.
Surprisingly, DC did not retain their captain of the last three years, Australian legend Meg Lanning, who was instead bought by the UP Warriorz. The Capitals bid the highest on Deepti Sharma in the auction, the the Warriorz used their RTM card.
Getting to Delhi’s real auction buys, despite the smallest purse going into the auction, DC spent big early on. Their earliest buys were – South African Laura Wolvaardt for Rs. 1.1 crore, West Indies all-rounder Chinelle Henry for Rs. 1.3 crore, and Indian spinner Shree Charani for Rs. 1.3 crore as well.
Before going into the smaller buys of the accelerated rounds, Delhi Capitals also bought Sneh Rana for Rs. 50 lakh, Lizelle Lee for Rs. 30 lakh, and uncapped Indian Deeya Yadav for Rs. 10 lakh.
Here are the Capitals’ buys from the accelerated rounds –
- Taniya Bhatia – Rs 30 lakh
- Mamatha Madiwala – Rs 10 lakh
- Nandini Sharma – Rs 10 lakh
- Lucy Hamilton – Rs 10 lakh
- Minnu Mani – Rs 40 lakh
Delhi Capitals Full Squad WPL 2026
Here are the Delhi Capitals full squad after WPL 2026 auction
Batters – Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Laura Wolvaardt (O), Taniya Bhatia, Lizelle Lee (O), Deeya Yadav, Mamatha Madiwala
All-rounders – Marizanne Kapp (O), Annabel Sutherland (O), Chenille Henry (O), Sneh Rana, Niki Prasad, Minnu Mani, Lucy Hamilton (O)
Bowlers – Shree Charani, Nandini Sharma
*O – Overseas
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