Looking at Women’s Premier League 2027 releases and retentions for each team

With just under a month remaining for the auction of the 2027 Women’s Premier League (WPL) season, all teams have released their lists of players they have retained for next year as well as the ones they’ve released.

A total of 27 slots will have to be filled by the five teams, with 63 players being retained by the respective sides.

The biggest news is that Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry has confirmed that she will be available for selection this time around, having opted out of this year’s edition citing personal reasons. This has come as a massive boost for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who will go into next season as the defending champions.

With Perry coming in, RCB have let go of Grace Harris, which is a massive shock given that she was one of the fiercest batters last season, striking at an astonishing rate of 178.19 and time and again being responsible for bailing out her side from sticky situations.

There have been a lot of surprising releases, with Lizelle Lee being one of the big names who will be in the auction pool. The South African wicketkeeper-batter was one of the Delhi Capitals’ star performers last season, providing her side with fast starts with her aggressive batting style at the top of the order. She scored 320 runs in ten innings, finishing the season as DC’s highest run-getter.

Apart from Lee, the Capitals have also released all-rounder Sneh Rana, keeper Taniya Bhatia, all-rounder Pragati Singh, and pace bowler Eddla Srujana.

The UP Warriorz, meanwhile, have unsurprisingly been the most active side, having released as many as nine players, with Deandra Dottin, Chloe Tryon, Shweta Sehrawat, Amy Jones, and Charlie Knott among the casualties. The sheer number of releases means that the Warriorz will have the highest available purse at the auction, which will be held in Kochi next month.

Elsewhere, the Gujarat Giants released England batter Danni Wyatt-Hodge, citing that they’ll be looking for overseas batters with a more varied skill set. Another factor in her release is her availability, with England looking to play a series around the time WPL 2027 kicks off.

Lastly, the Mumbai Indians have released seven players, with Saika Ishaque being the big name among the list. Ishaque was a key contributor in MI’s two WPL titles, and her omission comes as a surprise to many, although she did play just a solitary game this year, which may have contributed to MI feeling there’s enough cover in the spin-bowling department going forward. 

However, despite releasing seven players, MI will have the lowest purse among all the teams in the auction, making their job to bolster their side just that bit harder. With MI still relying on the core that has brought them two WPL titles, it is not a surprise that their strategy will be inclined towards bolstering squad depth for the future.

Each team will have to have a maximum of 18 players, with seven slots for overseas players.

Delhi Capitals (DC)

Players released: Alana King, Lizelle Lee, Sneh Rana, Taniya Bhatia, Pragati Singh, Eddla Srujana

Players retained: Annabel Sutherland, Chinelle Henry, Laura Wolvaardt, Lucy Hamilton, Marizanne Kapp, Deeya Yadav, Jemimah Rodrigues, Mamatha Madiwala, Minnu Mani, Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma, Niki Prasad, Shafali Verma

Slots available: 5 | 1 Overseas

Purse remaining: INR 1.10 crore

Gujarat Giants (GG)

Players released: Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Ayushi Soni, Titas Sadhu, Shivani Singh

Players retained: Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney, Georgia Wareham, Kim Garth, Sophie Devine, Anushka Sharma, Bharti Fulmali, Happy Kumari, Jintimani Kalita, Kanika Ahuja, Kashvee Gautam, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Singh, Tanuja Kanwar, Yastika Bhatia

Slots available: 3 | 1 Overseas

Purse remaining: INR 1.25 crore

Mumbai Indians (MI)

Released players: Milly Illingworth, Gunalan Kamalini, Kranthi Reddy, Poonam Khemnar, Saika Ishaque, Triveni Vasistha

Retained players: Amelia Kerr, Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Nicola Carey, Amanjot Kaur, Harmanpreet Kaur, Rahila Firdous, Sajeevan Sajana, Sanskriti Gupta, Shabnim Ismail, Vaishnavi Sharma

Slots available: 7 | 1 Overseas

Purse remaining: INR 1 crore

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)

Players released: Grace Harris, Linsey Smith, Dayalan Hemalatha, Gautami Nayak

Players retained: Ellyse Perry, Georgia Voll, Lauren Bell, Nadine de Klerk, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar, Prathyoosha Kumar, Prema Rawat, Radha Yadav, Richa Ghosh, Sayali Satghare, Shreyanka Patil, Smriti Mandhana

Slots available: 5 | 2 Overseas

Purse remaining: INR 1.15 crore

UP Warriorz (UPW)

Players released: Amy Jones, Charli Knott, Chloe Tryon, Deandra Dottin, Asha Sobhana, Gongadi Trisha, Kiran Navgire, Shweta Sehrawat, Suman Meena

Players retained: Meg Lanning, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Ecclestone, Tara Norris, Deepti Sharma, Harleen Deol, Kranti Gaud, Pratika Rawal, Shikha Pandey, Shipra Giri, Simran Shaikh

Slots available: 7 | 2 Overseas

Purse remaining: INR 3.65 crore