60 players retained, while 29 are released as franchises gear up for WPL 2024

The WPL franchises have gained a year of experience and understanding of the dynamics of the Women's Premier League (WPL), so they have already begun preparing for the second edition. This includes releasing and retaining players to build the best possible team combinations and in the quest to find the best combination for the next season, the five franchises have released 29 of their players while retaining their core of 60 players.

Gujarat Giants released the most players (11) of any team ahead of the 2024 Women's Premier League (WPL) season. This was not surprising given their disappointing performance in the inaugural season. Delhi Capitals, the runners-up of the inaugural edition, released the fewest players (3) in a bid to keep their core intact.

Preparations went underway months before

As we have seen over the years in the IPL although the league takes place only for a month or so every year the preparations for every franchise go throughout the year which involves off-season camps, scouting local players and conducting trials.

For most teams it is about finding the best combination for the next season by keeping the core members of their team intact and releasing those who they feel don’t fit in their scheme of things.  After the overhaul at the Gujarat Giants, the team's parent company, Adani Sportsline, has the most money available to spend in the upcoming auction, with Rs 5.95 crore. Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, has only Rs 2.1 crore left in its purse.

Here is the players' list of players retained and released by all the franchises:

Gujarat Giants (GG)

Retained Players: Ashleigh Gardner*, Beth Mooney*, Dayalan Hemalatha, Harleen Deol, Laura Wolvaardt*, Shabnam Shakil, Sneh Rana, Tanuja Kanwer

Released Players: Annabel Sutherland*, Ashwani Kumari, Georgia Wareham*, Hurley Gala, Kim Garth*, Mansi Joshi, Monica Patel, Parunika Sisodia, Sabbineni Meghana, Sophia Dunkley*, Sushma Verma 

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

Retained Players: Asha Shobana, Disha Kasat, Ellyse Perry*, Heather Knight*, Indrani Roy, Kanika Ahuja, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Smriti Mandhana, Sophie Devine*

Released Players: Dane Van Niekerk*, Erin Burns*, Komal Zanzad, Megan Schutt*, Poonam Khemnar, Preeti Bose, Sahana Pawar

UP Warriorz (UPW)

Retained Players: 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*

Mumbai Indians (MI)

 Retained Players: 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

Released Players: Dhara Gujjar, Heather Graham*, Neelam Bisht, Sonam Yadav

 Delhi Capitals (DC)

Retained Players: Alice Capsey*, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Jess Jonassen*, Laura Harris*, Marizanne Kapp*, Meg Lanning*, Minnu Mani, Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Shefali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sneha Deepthi, Taniyaa Bhatia, Titas Sadhu

Released Players: Aparna Mondal, Jasia Akhter, Tara Norris*