According to reports, the WPL 2026 auction is scheduled to take place in Delhi, with the window now narrowed to November 26 and 27.

Earlier, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had indicated that the auction would take place between November 26 and 29.

The auction is expected to be done in a single day despite it being a mega event. With only five teams in the WPL and a maximum squad size of 18 players, the process is unlikely to take long, even if as many as 90 players were to be auctioned.

Despite an official announcement yet to be revealed, the teams are expected to enter the auction with quite a number of players retained.

Earlier this month, the franchises has been announced WPL 2026 auction rules and asked to submit their list of retained players by November 05.

The WPL will introduce the Right to Match (RTM) option for the first time. This will allow franchises to buy back players who featured in their 2025 squads.

However, a team retaining a maximum of five players will lose the ability to use any RTM options. Retaining four players will permit one RTM, three players will give two RTMs, two players will offer three RTMs, and retaining just one players will allow four RTMs.

The BCCI has also revealed the value purse for WPL 2026 auction which has been set at INR 15 crore, with fixes retention slabs providing a base value for retained players:

• INR 3.5 crore for Player 01
• INR 2.5 crore for Player 02
• INR 1.75 crore for Player 03
• INR 1 crore for Player 04
• INR 50 lakhs for Player 05

The retained players value will be deducted from auction purse – retaining five players will cose for INR 9.25 crore, four will cost INR 8.75 crore, three will cost INR 7.75 crore, two will cost INR 6 crore and one will be INR 3.5 crore.

“While the amount paid to an individual player may differ from guideline price, the total amount based on the number of players retained will be used for salary cap calculation,” the BCCI said in a recent note to the franchises.

The guideline price for retaining an uncapped player is INR 50 lakh and each team can retain a maximum of two uncapped players. In addition, a franchise can retain a maximum of three capped Indian players and no more than two overseas players can be in the retention list.

Mumbai Indians enter as the defending champions, having clinched the title in 2023 as well. On both occasions, they defeated Delhi Capitals (DC) in the final. Meanwhile, Royal Challengers (RCB), despite winning the championship last year, missed out on qualifying for the eliminator in both 2023 and 2025.