WPL 2026 Mega Auction Highlights: Shikha Pandey Fetches 2.4 Cr In Accelerated Round; Deepti Sharma Costliest At 3.2 Cr

Greetings and welcome everyone. We are building up to the start of the Women's Premier League 2026 mega auction. Stay with us for the lowdown and all the latest updates.

The auction process begins at 3:30pm IST. The Women's Premier League 2026 mega auction will be live streamed on the JioHotstar app and website in India. It will be telecast on the Star Sports Network TV channels in the country.

Hours before the WPL auction gets underway in Delhi, news trickled in of Australia all-rounder Jess Jonassen pulling out. ESPNcricinfo reported that the reason for withdrawal was injury, and that her exit was disclosed to franchises by the organisers at the pre-auction briefing yesterday. 

• Maximum squad size: 18 players

• Minimum squad size: 15 players

• Total slots available: 73, including 23 overseas

• Teams may use up to five RTM cards, depending on retentions

• Teams with fewer retentions get more RTMs and bigger purses

• Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals: no RTMs available

• Combined purse across all teams: INR 41.1 crore

The marquee set that opens the auction features eight headline names -Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh, Sophie Devine, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Ecclestone, Alyssa Healy, Meg Lanning, and Laura Wolvaardt. These eight will set the tone for the auction's early bidding battles.

Auctioneer Mallika Sagar gets proceedings underway and the auction begins with the marquee set. Australia's Alyssa Healy is the first player to go under the hammer.

Australia skipper Alyssa Healy, with a base price of INR 50 lakh, goes unsold. Intriguing start to the auction.

New Zealand all-rounder Sophie Devine is the second player to go up in the marquee set. Starting at a base price of 50 lakh, there is a lot of interest and bids are raised until Delhi Capitals bow out. Devine goes to Gujarat Giants for INR 2 crore.

The much sought-after India all-rounder Deepti Sharma is up next. Delhi Capitals go for her, but UP Warriorz exercise their Right To Match card. DC state the bid as 3.2 crore, and the Warriorz match it! Deepti to stay with the UP franchise, then.

Mumbai Indians win the bidding war for Amelia Kerr, another New Zealand all-rounder. Kerr stay with MI for INR 3 crore, with the franchise not needing to use their RTM card.

Gujarat Giants get a steal for India seamer Renuka Singh, winning the bid ahead of UP Warriorz for INR 60 lakh.

England spinner Sophie Ecclestone is up next, and Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru show interest. DC take it at 85 lakh, but UP Warriorz jump in with the RTM and for the same price: 85 lakh INR.

Australian titan Meg Lanning is up next and the bidding starts at the base price of 50 lakh INR. Her former franchise Delhi Capitals start the bidding but are soon joined by UP Warriorz and the two are locked in a bidding war. UP get the legend for 1.9 crore.

South Africa's World Cup runner-up skipper Laura Wolvaardt starts off with a base price of INR 30 lakh, and DC, RCB vie for her with the Capitals eventually acquiring the batter for INR 1.1 crore.

With that, a whirlwind opening set bearing eight marquee players comes to an end in the WPL mega auction. There's a short break currently, which will be followed by the second set.

We are back after the break and the second set comprises capped batters. S. Meghana is the first one in the list and the base price is 30 lakh INR, but she goes unsold.

South Africa opener Tazmin Brits goes unsold, hard-hitting Aussie Phoebe Litchfield goes for 1.2 cr INR to the Warriorz while Georgia Voll joins RCB for 60 lakh INR. As for the Indians, UPW exercise their RTM card to get Kiran Navgire for 60 lakh and Bharti Fulmali is back with Gujarat Giants for 70 lakh.

The third set bears renowned all-rounders like India's N Shree Charani, Radha Yadav, Sneh Rana and overseas players like Nadine de Klerk, Grace Harris and Chinelle Henry.

West Indies' Chinelle Henry and India's in-form spinner N Sree Charani rake in the big bucks, with both going to DC for INR 1.3 crore apiece. Radha Yadav heads to RCB for 65 lakh while Harleen Deol goes to UPW for 50 lakh and Sneh Rana to DC for the same price.

After a short break, the fourth set begins and it is that of wicketkeeper-batters. Izzy Grace from New Zealand is the first name to go under the hammer and she goes unsold.

Set 4 ends rather quickly, with Lizelle Lee the only player to be sold in the category to DC for 30 lakh. No bidders for India's Uma Chetry. Time now for the fast bowlers list, starting with Lauren Bell, who goes to RCB for 90 lakh.

Bengal seamer Titas Sadhu joins Gujarat Giants for 30 lakh INR, while South African legend Shabnim Ismail goes back to MI for 60 lakh INR. Meanwhile, UPW use the RTM card to get Kranti Goud back for 50 lakh.

The sixth category, bearing spinners, sees Linsey Smith sold to RCB for a base price of 30 lakh. Asha Sobhana is later snapped up by the Warriorz for INR 1.1 crore. Alana King, Amanda-Jade Wellington and Saika Ishaque all go unsold. There'a short break after the end of this set.

The auction resumes and Set 7, bearing uncapped batters, starts and ends quickly. Deeya Yadav is the only player to be sold, going to DC for 10 lakh. Time now for uncapped all-rounders.

Sanskriti Gupta returns to Mumbai Indians at a base price of 20 lakh, while Prema Rawat rejoins RCB for 20 lakh. Amandeep Kaur goes unsold, and so do G Trisha and Yashasri S.

Sets 9 and 10 go by like a breeze. No takers for any of the uncapped wicket-keepers, and none for uncapped pacers either, including India's Shabnam Shakil. On to uncapped spinners now.

No uncapped spinner finds any takers, and with that, the 11th set concludes. The auction breaks for around 45 minutes, post which the accelerated part of auction will start.

The auction resumes and the accelerated section is underway. This is where teams submit the names of the players they want from the list of remaining players. Star West Indies player Deandra Dottin is the first to be sold, for INR 80 lakh.

Shikha Pandey, with a base price of INR 40 lakh, causes a bidding war between UP Warriorz and Royal Challengers Bengaluru. RCB keep upping the ante and take the bid to 2.2 cr INR, but the Warriorz are not to be denied and take it to 2.40 cr INR. And sold! The 36-year-old all-rounder heads to UPW for a handsome salary.

After a whirlwind round of accelerated auction, the teams are asked to nominate 8-10 players for the next accelerated round. There is a short break, post which the second round will start.

Here's what RCB head coach Malolan Rangarajan had to say about how his team's shaping up:

The final accelerator round is now underway! After initial two unsold bids, Australia Grace finally gets her new home in the form of RCB at 75 lakhs.

Accelerator Round 2 saw some prominent names in women's cricket finally finding a buyer. Australian quick Kim Garth and Indian wicket-keeper batter Yastika Bhatia were the two prominent names who went for 50 lakhs to the Gujarat Giants and South Africa's Chloe Tryon went to UPW for 30 lakhs.

While many prominent players got picked up in the accelerator round 2, there were some big names of women cricket like Alana King and Alice Capsey still went unsold.

The WPL auction finally ends after the final accelerator round's completion takes place. Many international and uncapped Indian players were sold in this round. The big international women players who found a home in this auction are:

Daniel Wyatt-Hodge- 50 lakhs (GG)

Pratika Rawal- 50 lakhs (UPW)

Rajeshwari Gaiwad- 40 lakhs (GG)

With this we come to the end of the live coverage of the 2026 WPL auctions, we'll back with another live blog soon, until then, bye bye.