The highly anticipated Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 auction is confirmed to be held on December 9 in Mumbai, as announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday, November 24. Scheduled for February-March next year, the tournament will be hosted across multiple venues.

The WPL 2024 auction promises to feature some of the cricketing world’s prominent names, including Megan Schutt, Georgia Wareham, Annabel Sutherland, and Sophia Dunkley. In preparation for the auctions, last month saw the WPL franchises unveil the list of retained players.

A total of 60 players, including 21 foreign players, have been retained across the five teams, while 29 players have been released. The Gujarat Giants enter the WPL 2024 auctions with the most substantial salary cap, boasting an impressive INR 5.95 crore. In contrast, the Mumbai Indians have the smallest purse, with 2.1 crore at their disposal among the five franchises. The upcoming auction is poised to shape the dynamics of the teams as they vie for top talents to strengthen their lineups.

Players Released Ahead of WPL 2024 Auctions

Delhi Capitals:

• Aparna Mondal
• Jasia Akhter
• Tara Norris

Gujarat Giants:

• Annabel Sutherland
• Ashwani Kumari
• Georgia Wareham
• Hurley Gala
• Kim Garth
• Mansi Joshi
• Monica Patel
• Parunika Sisodia
• Sabbineni Meghana
• Sophia Dunkley
• Sushma Verma

Mumbai Indians:

• Dhara Gujjar
• Heather Graham
• Neelam Bisht
• Sonam Yadav

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

• Dané Van Niekerk
• Erin Burns
• Komal Zanzad
• Megan Schutt
• Poonam Khemnar
• Preeti Bose
• Sahana Pawar

See Also:IPL Auction 2024: Compilation of Players Released and Traded by Each Team

UP Warriorz:

• Devika Vaidya
• Shabnim Ismail
• Shivali Shinde
• Simran Shaikh

Retained Players List for WPL 2024

Delhi Capitals:

• Alice Capsey
• Arundhati Reddy
• Jemimah Rodrigues
• Jess Jonassen
• Laura Harris
• Marizanne Kapp
• Meg Lanning
• Minnu Mani
• Poonam Yadav
• Radha Yadav
• Shafali Verma
• Shikha Pandey
• Sneha Deepthi
• Taniyaa Bhatia
• Titas Sadhu

Gujarat Giants:

• Ashleigh Gardner
• Beth Mooney
• Dayalan Hemalatha
• Harleen Deol
• Laura Wolvaardt
• Shabnam Shakil
• Sneh Rana
• Tanuja Kanwer

Mumbai Indians:

• Amanjot Kaur
• Amelia Kerr
• Chloe Tryon
• Harmanpreet Kaur
• Hayley Matthews
• Humairaa Kaazi
• Isabelle Wong
• Jintimani Kalita
• Natalie Sciver
• Pooja Vastrakar
• Priyanka Bala
• Saika Ishaque
• Yastika Bhatia

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

• Asha Shobana
• Disha Kasat
• Ellyse Perry
• Heather Knight
• Indrani Roy
• Kanika Ahuja
• Renuka Singh
• Richa Ghosh
• Shreyanka Patil
• Smriti Mandhana
• Sophie Devine

UP Warriorz:

• Alyssa Healy
• Anjali Sarvani
• Deepti Sharma
• Grace Harris
• Kiran Navgire
• Lauren Bell
• Laxmi Yadav
• Parshavi Chopra
• Rajeshwari Gayakwad
• S. Yashasri
• Shweta Sehrawat
• Sophie Ecclestone
• Tahlia Mcgrath

According to ESPNcricinfo, the upcoming player auction for the 2024 WPL season is scheduled to take place in Mumbai on December 9. Each of the five participating teams will have an additional purse of INR 1.5 crore (approximately US $180,228) at their disposal, in addition to any remaining balance from the previous auction and earnings from player releases.

Auction Details and Team Allocations

In this day-long auction, there are 30 slots to be filled, including nine overseas player slots. Prior to the auction, the five franchises retained a total of 60 players, including 21 overseas players, and released 29. The funds generated from player releases, along with any remaining balance from the previous auction, will be added to the fresh purse of INR 1.5 crore.

During the inaugural WPL season, teams had INR 12 crore (approximately US $1.44 million) to build their squads. Two of the five teams, namely defending champions Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz, had fully utilized their budgets. The remaining three teams, Gujarat Giants had INR 5 lakhs (approximately US $6007), Delhi Capitals had INR 35 lakhs (approximately US $42,053), and Royal Challengers Bangalore had INR 10 lakhs (approximately US $12,015) remaining.

Among these teams, Gujarat Giants, who finished at the bottom of the points table last season, released almost half of their squad and will have the highest purse of INR 5.95 crore (approximately US $714,904), with ten slots available to be filled, including three overseas players. UP Warriorz, who finished mid-table, have INR 4 crore (approximately US $480,608) to fill up five slots, including one overseas player. They are followed by Royal Challengers Bangalore, who finished fourth, with INR 3.35 crore (approximately US $402,509) to fill seven slots, including three overseas players.

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Delhi Capitals, the runner-up from the previous season, will have INR 2.25 crore (approximately US $270,342) to fill three slots, including one overseas player. Mumbai Indians will have the smallest purse among the five franchises, INR 2.1 crore (approximately US $252,319), to fill five slots, including one overseas player.

The WPL experienced immediate success in its inaugural season, with top players from around the world participating, with the exception of players from Pakistan. The tournament consisted of 22 matches and was held at three venues in Mumbai. As of now, the BCCI has not communicated the tournament dates for the second edition, and it is unclear whether the tournament will follow the home-and-away format across multiple venues or take place in a single city, similar to the previous season.

At last year’s auction, seven players received bids as high as INR 2 crore, and three players surpassed the INR 3-crore mark, including Smriti Mandhana (INR 3.4 crore), Ashleigh Gardner (INR 3.2 crore), and Nat Sciver-Brunt (INR 3.2 crore).