WPL 2027 retentions: RCB, Mumbai Indians make bold calls as Grace Harris an...

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Mumbai Indians’ (MI) decision to release the hard-hitting all-rounder Grace Harris and young wicket-keeper batter G Kamilini respectively came as the two of the biggest calls of the day as all five teams from the Women’s Premier League (WPL) released their retention list for the 2027 season on Monday.

The five franchises have retained 63 players ahead of the WPL 2027 player auction, which is set to take place on October 28 at the Grand Hyatt, Kochi. The fifth edition of the tournament is scheduled to run from January 14, 2027 to February 7, 2027.

The defending champions RCB have retained 13 players, while Gujarat Giants have kept the largest group of players intact with 15 of the players from the last season retained to feature in the 2027 edition of the tournament. Delhi Capitals have retained 13 players, and both Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz have retained 11 players each.

RCB Release Grace Harris, Retain Elyse Perry

The Royal Challengers Bengaluru have kept their core group largely intact, with Captain Smriti Mandhana being joined by some of the regulars of the team, including Elyse Perry, Georgia Voll, Lauren Bell, Shreyanka Patil, Richa Ghosh, Nadine de Klerk, Arundhati Reddy, Prema Rawat, Radha Yadav, Sayali Satghare, K Prathayoosha, and Pooja Vastrakar in the retention list.

Australian superstar all-rounder Elyse Perry had missed an entire season in 2026 due to personal reasons but she has made herself available for the upcoming season. However, RCB have left out one of their Australian superstars, the power-hitting Grace Harris, English spinner Linsey Smith, and the Indian duo of Gautami Naik and Dayalam Hemlatha.

Malolan Rangarajan, the head coach of RCB said Perry’s return to the side gives their franchise a greater flexibility while planning their squad with four overseas players - Bell, Perry, de Klerk and Voll, already moving the retained group.

Mumbai Indians Make a Big Call on G Kamilini

The two-time WPL champions Mumbai Indians have retained their captain, Harmanpreet Kaur along with Nat Sciver-Brunt, Amanjot Kaur, Shabnim Ismail, S Sajana, Nicola Carey, Amanjot Kaur, Amelia Kerr, Hayley Matthews, Rahila Firdous, Vaishnavi Sharma, and Sanskriti Gupta. Their retention list is clearly indicative that MI wants to keep their core group intact, especially with the overseas players, leaving room for adding depth at the auction.

Among the major names announced by MI in their release list is G Kamilini as she was among the first five names retained by the team ahead of the 2026 mega auction. Other players released by the team include Saika Ishaque, Poonam Khemnar, Nalla Reddy, Milli Illingworth and Triveni Vasistha.

Delhi Capitals Keep Their Heavyweight Core Intact

Delhi Capitals have retained their captain Jemimah Rodrigues, along with Shafali Verma, Laura Wolvaardt, Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp, Chenille Henry, Minnu Mani, Nandini Sharma, Nikki Prasad, Lucy Hamilton, N Sree Charani, Deeya Yadav and Mamtha Madiwala. This move ensures that the backbone of the team that made it to the finals of the WPL finals in 2026 remain intact.

Among the big names released by the Capitals include Sneh Rana, Alana King, and Lizelle Lee. Their head coach Jonathan Betty said the franchise’s core objective going into the auction was to find new ways to improve an already strong and well-established playing-XI rather than do a major rebuild.

UP Warriorz Overhaul The Supporting Cast

UP Warriorz have retained captain Meg Lanning, Deepti Sharma, Sophie Ecclestone, Harleen Deol, Kranti Gaud, Pratika Rawal, Phoebe Litchfield, Shikha Pandey, Simran Shaikh, Tara Norris, and Shipra Giri. The franchise has kept intact most of the players that it had invested in during the mega auction 2026, while opening up a significant amount of places to add a new pool of talent.

The franchise has released some big players too including Chloe Tryon, Amy Jones, Deandra Dottin, Asha Shobhana, Shweta Sherawat, among others. Shrewat’s departure from UP Warriorz is a big surprise as she was the only retained player before the 2026 auction. Meanwhile, the exit of Jones, Dottin, Tryon gives them the option to bring new and experienced overseas players.

Gujarat Giants Make the Least Changes, Retain 15 Players

Amongst all the WPL franchise, Gujarat Giants has opted to give a maximum number of players in the squad from the last season a continued run. Captain Ashleigh Gardner, Shophie Devine, Georgia Warreham, Kim Garth, Beth Mooney, all these players are retained from their overseas core. Meanwhile, Indian players like Renuka Singh, Yastika Bhatia, Bharti Fulmali, Kashvee Gautam, Kanika Ahuja, Tanjua Kanwar, Rajeswari Gaikwad, Happy Kumari, have also been retained.

The Giants have left off players from the retention list, Aayushi Soni, Titas Sadhu, Shivani Singh and the most surprising of all Danny Wyatt-Hodge. With the smallest number of players being let off, they probably will have the easiest team rebuilding job for the next season and they will approach the October auction with a largely well-settled squad and focus on filling the important gaps rather than undertaking an overhaul.

The contrasting retention strategies by the franchises leave 27 possible squad places across five teams if every team expands to the permitted limit of 18 players. Mumbai Indians, UP Warriorz have maximum room with seven places. Delhi Capitals and RCB have each, while Gujarat Giants can add a maximum of three players before the 2027 season starts.