Franchise Cricket

Image source, Getty ImagesCaptain Nat Sciver-Brunt is the only England player to be retained by her franchise for the fourth season of the Women’s Premier League.Sciver-Brunt, 33, will stay at defending champions Mumbai Indians but spinners Sophie Ecclestone (Up Warriorz), Charlie Dean (Royal Challengers Bengaluru), batter Danni Wyatt-Hodge (RCB) and all-rounders Alice Capsey (Delhi Capitals) and Danielle Gibson (Gujarat Giants) have all been released. India stars Smriti Mandhana (RCB), Harmanpreet Kaur (Mumbai Indians) and Jemimah Rodrigues (Delhi Capitals) have been retained but Deepti Sharma (UP Warriorz) has been released.West Indies all-rounder Hayley Matthews will stay at Mumbai, South Africa’s Marizanne Kapp remains with Delhi and Australia’s Ash Gardner and Beth Mooney (both Gujarat), Annabel Sutherland (Delhi) and Ellyse Perry (RCB) have also been kept.However Australia’s Meg Lanning (Capitals), Alyssa Healy and Tahlia McGrath (UP Warriorz), Phoebe Litchfield (Giants) have been released, while Mumbai have let New Zealand’s T20 World Cup winner Melie Kerr go too. There will be an auction for the teams to complete their squads, with the date yet to be confirmed. The dates for the tournament are also unknown.WPL 2026 retentionsDelhi Capitals: Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp and Niki PrasadGujarat Giants: Ash Gardner and Beth MooneyMumbai Indians: Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur, Hayley Matthews, Amanjot Kaur and G Kamalini Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, Ellyse Perry and Shreyanka PatilUP Warriorz: Shweta Sehrawat