WPL 2026 auction: Deepti Sharma the costliest buy, World Cup heroes in demand; Here's how teams stack up |
New Delhi: India’s World Cup hero Deepti Sharma emerged as the most expensive pick at the first-ever Women’s Premier League (WPL) mega auction, which took place in New Delhi on Thursday, November 27. The WPL 2026 mega auction threw up some major surprises as the five teams splurged out Rs 40.80 crore on a total of 67 players, including 23 overseas, to strengthen their respective squads ahead of the new season.
Deepti became the second most expensive Indian in WPL auction history, behind Smriti Mandhana, who was roped in by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for Rs 3.40 crore in the inaugural WPL auction. On expected lines, majority of India’s World Cup winners were in demand, but veteran pacer Shikha Pandey turned out to be one of the biggest surprises after UP Warriorz roped in the 36-year-old for Rs 2.40 crore.
UP Warriorz headed into the auction with the biggest purse of Rs 14 crore, having retained only one player in Shweta Sehrawat and were expectedly among the busiest teams in the auction room. UP kicked off the proceedings by using their first RTM on India’s star all-rounder Deepti to get her back for Rs 3.20 crore.
Delhi Capitals made the opening bid for Deepti and got the player before UP Warriorz decided to use the RTM for the all-rounder. DC raised the bid to Rs 3.2 crore, but UP Warriorz matched it to pave the way for Deepti’s return to the squad. Deepti, the second-highest wicket-taker in T20Is, played an instrumental role in India’s maiden ODI World Cup triumph earlier this month.
Having retained the majority of their core prior to the auction, the Mumbai Indians spent big on New Zealand all-rounder Amelia Kerr, getting her back for Rs 3 crore. South Africa pacer Shabnim Ismail also returned to Mumbai for Rs 60 crore, while the franchise invested heavily in Indian names by roping in the likes of S Sajana, Sanskriti Gupta, Triveni........