WPL 2027 auction: Franchises release players, RCB axes Grace Harris
All five WPL 2027 franchises have released their retain and release lists ahead of the October 28 auction in Kochi, with RCB and Delhi Capitals among the teams making big calls.
Preparations for the Women's Premier League 2027 (WPL) are underway. The tournament will start on January 14, with the final to be played on February 9. Before that, an auction will be held in Kochi on October 28, where teams will pick new players and bid on those released from their contracts. Just ahead of the auction, all five franchises have released their retained and released player lists, with some teams surprising everyone by letting go of big names.
Royal Challengers Bangalore have released four players this time, including Lauren Smith, Grace Harris, Dayalan Hemalatha and Gauthami Naik. Harris had contributed well for the team last season, yet the franchise made the surprising call to part ways with her. RCB have retained Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Pooja Vastrakar, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Nadine de Klerk, Georgia Wall, Sayali Satghare, Prema Rawat, Pratyusha Kumari and Lauren Bell, all of whom will stay with RCB next season.
Delhi Capitals have also released six players. Alana King, Adla Sreejana, Lizelle Lee, Pragati Singh, Sneh Rana and Taniya Bhatia have been let go by the franchise. Delhi have retained Shafali Verma, Annabel Sutherland, Chinelle Henry, Diya Yadav, Jemimah Rodrigues, Laura Wolvaardt, Lucy Hamilton, Mamta Madivala, Marizanne Kapp, Minnu Mani, N Shree Charani, Nandini Sharma and Nikki Prasad.
Gujarat Giants have released four players. Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Ayushi Soni, Titas Sadhu and Shivani Singh will not be part of Gujarat's squad next year. Gujarat have retained Yastika Bhatia, Anushka Sharma, Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney, Bharati Fulmali, Renuka Singh, Georgia Wareham, Happy Kumari, Jintimani Kalita, Kanika Ahuja, Kashvee Gautam, Tanuja Kanwer, Kim Garth, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Sophie Devine.
UP Warriorz have released Kiran Navgire, Asha Sobhana, Shweta Sehrawat, Deandra Dottin, Amy Jones and Chloe Tryon. UP have retained Shikha Pandey, Deepti Sharma, Harleen Deol, Sophie Ecclestone, Kranti Goud, Meg Lanning, Phoebe Litchfield, Pratika Rawal, Shipra Giri, Simran Shaikh and Tara Norris.
Two-time WPL champions Mumbai Indians have also made major changes to their squad. The franchise has released Triveni Vashisht, G Kamalini, Millie Illingworth, Kranti Reddy, Poonam Khemnar and Saika Ishaque this season. Mumbai have decided to retain Harmanpreet Kaur, Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Hayley Matthews, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Nicola Carey, Vaishnavi Sharma, Rahila Firdos, Sajeevan Sajana, Sanskriti Gupta and Shabnim Ismail.
