WPL franchises set for major revamp at mega auction

The five franchises in the WPL are set for a revamp, with the BCCI deciding to hold a mega auction ahead of the 2026 season. ESPNcricinfo has learned that the franchises have been told informally about the mega auction, which is likely to be held by end of November.

The franchises are awaiting confirmation from the WPL on the number of retentions, the auction purse, the retention slabs and how many right-to-match (RTM) card options would be available. Those decisions will be finalised by the WPL committee, but there is no confirmation on when they are likely to meet. The dates for the 2026 edition are yet to be announced, although the BCCI had indicated earlier that the tournament would be held in the January-February window.

The five-team WPL, the most lucrative event in women's cricket, was launched in 2023 with Mumbai Indians emerging as the inaugural champions. Mumbai are the defending champions, while Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) won the title in 2024.

It is understood that both Mumbai and RCB, along with Delhi Capitals, losing finalists in all three seasons of the WPL so far, are three teams who were not in favour of the mega auctions. All three franchises, it is learned, reasoned that they have worked hard to build their squads over the past three seasons and asking them to dismantle just when the WPL brand is getting established, could prove to be counter-productive.

It is understood, however, that the two other franchises - Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz - support a mega auction. Both these teams have never made the final and are keen to overhaul their squads and rebuild. One WPL official said that while they understood the reservations of the three franchises against the mega auction, it was important to ensure the tournament had five strong teams, otherwise the imbalance could only harm the brand. The official also pointed out that franchises like RCB have shown in the IPL that they can build their brand identity independent of the players retained, though they agreed the presence of Indian star Virat Kohli was well leveraged by the franchise.

This official pointed out that at the same time, the WPL would ensure that teams would still have the opportunity to retain their core. It is understood while some teams were in favour of being allowed to retain at least six or seven players, the WPL could lean closer to five. What also needs to be worked out as part of the retention formula is how many RTMs each team could exercise at the auction along with the combination of capped and uncapped players.

For the IPL mega auction in 2025, each of the 10 franchises were allowed a maximum of six retentions via a combination of retention and RTM. The six would comprise a maximum five capped players (Indian/overseas) and maximum of two uncapped Indian players. The RTM option gives a franchise the chance to buy back a player during the auction by matching the highest bid made for the player by another franchise once the bidding is over. The RTM rule has never been used in WPL auctions.

The WPL has been viewed as a gamechanger in women's cricket, especially because of the monetary benefits for players. In 2023, Viacom 18 bought the WPL broadcast rights for INR 951 crore (USD 116.7 million approx.) for the period 2023 to 2027. The per-match value was worth INR 7.09 core (USD 866,000 approx.). India's star batter Smrit Mandhana, the first player to be bought at the inaugural WPL auction (2023), remains the most expensive buy at INR 3.2 cr ($415,000 approx.).