WPL Auction: Deepti Sharma was bought for INR 3.2 Crore by UP Warriorz, making her the most expensive player
WPL Auction: Deepti Sharma was bought for INR 3.2 Crore by UP Warriorz, making her the most expensive player
UP Warriorz used a "right to match" option to equal Delhi Capitals' bid of INR 3.2 crore (32 million Indian rupees, $549,000) to re-sign 28-year-old Sharma on Thursday, as five franchises spent a total of INR 40.8 crore ($6.99 million) to sign 67 players ahead of the fourth edition of the Twenty20 league.
India’s World Cup-winning allrounder Deepti Sharma was the headline act of the WPL 2026 Mega Auction. She became the highest-paid player of the day, returning to UP Warriorz (UPW) for INR 3.2 crore through the Right to Match (RTM) card after Delhi Capitals (DC) made the opening bid at her base price. This deal made her the joint-second-most-expensive signing in WPL auction history. Soon after, Amelia Kerr was snapped up by the Mumbai Indians (MI) for INR 3 crore, a move that consumed more than half of their purse. Another big payday came for Shikha Pandey, who joined UPW for INR 2.4 crore after a long bidding war with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
Several other players crossed the one-crore mark. Sophie Devine went to Gujarat Giants (GG) for INR 2 crore, while UPW added Meg Lanning for INR 1.9 crore, Phoebe Litchfield for INR 1.2 crore, and Asha Sobhana for INR 1.1 crore. DC signed Laura Wolvaardt for INR 1.1 crore and strengthened their allrounder options with Sree Charani and Chinelle Henry, both at INR 1.3 crore. GG rounded off the big buys with Georgia Wareham at INR 1 crore.
In total, 67 players were sold, including 23 overseas cricketers, with teams spending INR 40.8 crore overall. Some notable names, however, went unsold, including Alyssa Healy, Heather Knight, Amy Jones, Alana King, Heather Graham, Uma Chetry, and Marufa Akhter.
UPW, armed with the largest purse and four RTM cards, dominated the auction. They used RTMs to bring back Deepti Sharma at a record price and Sophie Ecclestone at a bargain INR 85 lakh. They also outbid DC for Lanning, secured Litchfield and Sobhana, and used RTMs to retain Kiran Navgire and Kranti Gaud. Later, they added Chloe Tryon and USA pacer Tara Norris in the accelerated rounds.
MI’s bold decision to spend INR 3 crore on Kerr left them with limited funds, but they still managed to bring back Shabnim Ismail for INR 60 lakh. DC began strongly with Wolvaardt but were repeatedly outbid by UPW. They salvaged their day by signing Charani, Henry, Sneh Rana, and Lizelle Lee. GG, meanwhile, won a fierce contest for Devine, retained Bharti Fulmali, Kashvee Gautam, and Kim Garth through RTMs, and later added Wareham and Yastika Bhatia.
RCB missed out on Shikha Pandey despite bidding up to INR 2.2 crore. Their most expensive buy was Lauren Bell for INR 90 lakh, followed by Pooja Vastrakar at 85 lakh. They also picked Grace Harris, Nadine de Klerk, and Radha Yadav to strengthen their squad.
By the end of the auction, UPW and GG had built the largest squads with 18 players each, including six overseas stars. MI, RCB, and DC settled with 16 players each. Most teams had exhausted their budgets, with only INR 15 lakh left for UPW and GG.
WPL squads after mega auction:
Mumbai Indians: Harmanpreet Kaur (Retained 2.5 Cr), Nat Sciver-Brunt (Retained 3.5 Cr), Amanjot Kaur (Retained 1 Cr), Hayley Mathews (Retained 1.75 Cr), G Kamalini (Retained 50 Lakh), Shabnim Ismail (60 Lakh), Amelia Kerr (3 Cr), Sanskriti Gupta (20 Lakh), Rahila Firdous (10 Lakh), Sajeevan Sajana (75 Lakh), Nicola Carey (30 Lakh), Triveni Vasistha (20 Lakh), Poonam Khemnar (10 Lakh), Nalla Reddy (10 Lakh), Saika Ishaque (30 Lakh), Milly Illingworth (10 Lakh)
Delhi Capitals: Shafali Verma (Retained 2.2 Cr), Jemimah Rodrigues (Retained 2.2 Cr), Annabel Sutherland (Retained 2.2 Cr), Niki Prasad (Retained 50 Lakh), Marizanne Kapp (Retained 2.2 Cr), Laura Wolvaardt (1.1 Cr), Sree Charani (1.3 Cr), Chinelle Henry (1.3 Cr), Sneh Rana (50 Lakh), Deeya Yadav (10 Lakh), Taniyaa Bhatia (30 Lakh), Lizelee Lee (30 Lakh), Mamatha Madiwala (10 Lakh), Nandani Sharma (20 Lakh), Lucy Hamilton (10 Lakh), Minnu Mani (40 Lakh)
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Smriti Mandhana (Retained 3.5 Cr), Ellyse Perry (Retained 2 Cr), Shreyanka Patil (Retained 60 Lakh), Richa Ghosh (Retained 2.75 Cr), Georgia Voll (60 Lakh), Radha Yadav (65 Lakh), Nadine de Klerk (65 Lakh), Lauren Bell (90 Lakh), Prema Rawat (RTM 20 Lakh), Linsey Smith (30 Lakh), Arundathi Reddy (75 Lakh), Grace Harris (75 Lakh), Gautami Naik (10 Lakh), Pooja Vastrakar (85 Lakh), Prathyoosha Kumar (10 Lakh), D Hemalatha (30 Lakh)
Gujarat Giants: Ashleigh Gardner (Retained 3.5 Cr), Sophie Devine (2 Cr), Beth Mooney (Retained 2.5 Cr), Renuka Singh (60 Lakh), Titas Sadhu (30 Lakh), Bharti Fulmali (RTM 70 Lakh), Kashvee Gautam (RTM 65 Lakh), Kanika Ahuja (30 Lakh), Georgia Wareham (1 Cr), Anushka Sharma (45 Lakh), Tanuja Kanwar (45 Lakh), Happy Kumari (10 Lakh), Kim Garth (50 Lakh), Yastika Bhatia (50 Lakh), Shivani Singh (10 Lakh), Danni Wyatt-Hodge (50 Lakh), Rajeshwari Gayakwad (40 Lakh), Ayushi Soni (30 Lakh)
UP Warriorz: Deepti Sharma (RTM 3.2 Cr), Shweta Sehrawat (Retained 50 Lakh), Sophie Ecclestone (RTM 85 Lakh), Phoebe Litchfield (1.2 Cr), Meg Lanning (1.9 Cr), Kiran Navgire (RTM 60 Lakh), Kranti Goud (RTM 50 Lakh), Harleen Deol (50 Lakh), Asha Sobhana (1.1 Crore), Shikha Pandey (2.4 Crore), Deandra Dottin (80 Lakh), Shipra Giri (10 Lakh), Simran Shaikh (10 Lakh), Tara Norris (10 Lakh), Chloe Tryon (30 Lakh), Suman Meena (10 Lakh), G Trisha (10 Lakh), Pratika Rawal (50 Lakh)