Who is the costliest retained player ahead of WPL 2025 Auction?
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Women's captain Smriti Mandhana remains the most expensive player retained ahead of the Women's Premier League 2025 Auction. RCB have retained 14 players, including Danielle Wyatt, who was traded from UP Warriorz. This leaves them with four available slots to fill during the auction.
Before the inaugural WPL season, RCB signed Smriti Mandhana for ₹3.4 crore, making her the most expensive player. The WPL has yet to hold a mega auction, so franchises retain players at the same price they were originally purchased for.
Meanwhile, Smriti couldn't lead the team to the qualifiers in the first season but turned things around in the second, guiding RCB to their first title.
RCB defeated Delhi Capitals (DC) in the 2024 edition final. Batting first, DC were dismissed for just 113, with Shafali Verma top-scoring with 44. Shreyanka Patil was the standout performer for RCB, taking four wickets. In reply, RCB comfortably chased down the target, winning by eight wickets with three balls remaining.
Smriti had a solid season with the bat, amassing 300 runs in 10 matches, including two half-centuries. Over the course of two seasons, she has played 18 games, scoring 449 runs at an average of 24.94, with two fifties to her name and a highest score of 80.
Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry lead the list of players retained by Royal Challengers Bengaluru Women
The defending champions have retained 14 players, including Smriti Mandhana, Sabbineni Meghana, Richa Ghosh, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Wareham, Shreyanka Patil, Asha Shobhana, Sophie Devine, Renuka Singh, Sophie Molineux, Ekta Bisht, Kate Cross, Kanika Ahuja, and Danielle Wyatt.
Smriti Mandhana's side has released five players: Disha Kasat, Indrani Roy, Nadine de Klerk, Shubha Satheesh, Shraddha Pokarkar, and Simran Bahadur.
Bengaluru have used most of its purse to retain the players who led them to victory in the 2024 edition. They will enter the auction with ₹3.25 crore remaining in their purse and four slots to fill.