Cricket, Women’s Premier League: Teams retain 60 players, release 29 ahead of second season

The Women’s Premier League, or WPL, teams retained a total of 60 players, including 21 overseas stars as the retention window ahead of the second season of the India’s premier women’s cricket competition drew to a close on Sunday.

While the top three teams of the inaugural edition of the tournament – Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, and UP Warriorz, retained a majority of their players, both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Giants, who had forgettable outings, went the other way around.

The Giants released a total of 11 players, including four overseas cricketers, from their first-ever team, the Bangalore-based outfit gave up seven of their players.

Meanwhile, reigning champions Mumbai Indians and UP Warriorz released four players each, while runners-up Delhi Capitals released only three.

Some of the biggest names, who will now head into the auction pool includes, South Africa’s Shabnim Ismail, Australians Megan Schutt, Georgia Wareham, and Annabel Sutherland, England’s Spohia Dunkley, and all-rounder Dan van Niekerk.

Complete list of players retained and released

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, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sneha Deepthi, Taniyaa Bhatia, Titas Sadhu

Released Players: Aparna Mondal, Jasia Akhter, Tara Norris

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

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

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: Dané 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

Released Players: Devika Vaidya, Shabnim Ismail, Shivali Shinde, Simran Shaikh