The first-ever Women's Premier League mega auction took place in Delhi on Thursday, November 27, as the five teams got embroiled in a bidding war to set up their squad for the upcoming edition of the WPL.
UP Warriorz headed into the auction with the highest purse value of INR 14.50 crore. They were followed by Gujarat Giants' INR 9 crore, Royal Challengers Bengaluru's INR 6.15 crore, Mumbai Indians' INR 5.75 crore and Delhi Capitals' INR 5.70 crore.
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Warriorz, who had released India international Deepti Sharma ahead of the mega auction, finally signed the all-rounder, spending a whopping INR 3.2 crore.
New Zealand star Amelia Kerr went to Mumbai Indians for INR 3 crore but the biggest surprise of the mega auction was Australia legend Alyssa Healy going unsold.
As the five teams stacked up their squads and are now ready to compete in the WPL 2026 season, we take a look at the five most expensive players of the WPL 2026 mega auction.
READ: WPL 2026 mega auction: Full list of sold, unsold players of all 5 Women's Premier League teams
Top 5 most expensive players at the Women's Premier League 2026 mega auction
Deepti Sharma to UP Warriorz (INR 3.20 crore)
Deepti Sharma, who won the MVP award at the recently concluded Women's ODI World Cup 2025, was the star attraction of the mega auction this year as she returned to the Warriorz for a whopping INR 3.20 crore. In the process, she also became the joint second-most expensive buy, alongside Smriti Mandhana.
Amelia Kerr to Mumbai Indians (INR 3 crore)
After missing out on Deepti Sharma, MI went all guns blazing after Amelia Kerr and won the bidding war for a massive INR 3 crore.
Shikha Pandey to UP Warriorz (INR 2.40 crore)
36-year-old veteran Indian fast bowler Shikha Pandey became the third most expensive signing at the WPL 2026 auction as UP Warriorz spent INR 2.4 crore to secure the player's move.
MORE: Who is WPL 2026 auctioneer?
Sophie Devine to Gujarat Giants (INR 2 crore)
Experienced Kiwi all-rounder Sophie Devine, who formerly played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, will ply her trade for Gujarat Giants in WPL 2026 after the franchise bought her for INR 2 crore.
Meg Lanning to UP Warriorz 1.9 crore
UP Warriorz went absolutely bonkers in the mega auction as they spent INR 1.9 crore to sign Australian batter Meg Lanning. Warriorz now have three players in their squad whose valuation is more than INR 1.5 crore.
Related links:
- Is Smriti Mandhana in WPL mega-auction? Listing India's World Cup winners in the Women's Premier League auction pool
- When is WPL 2026 mega-auction? Date, venue, rules for Women's Premier League auction
- T20 World Cup 2026: India's group, fixture details