Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma was signed up by UP Warriorz for Rs 3.2 crore at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2026 auction in New Delhi on Thursday.
The all-rounder was initially bought by Delhi Capitals (DC) for her base price of Rs 50 lakh, but the UP Warriorz opted to use the Right-to-Match (RTM) card. DC valued her at Rs 3.2 crore, and the Warriorz accepted the bid to get the player back in their squad.
The 28-year-old played three seasons for the UP Warriorz, during which she scored 507 runs in 25 matches at a strike rate of 117.63, with her highest score of 88 not out, which came in the second season against Gujarat Giants. She also took 27 wickets at an economy rate of 8.29.
Sharma captained the Warriorz in Alyssa Healy’s absence, who was ruled out due to a stress injury, in WPL 2025.
Former New Zealand captain and veteran all-rounder Sophie Devine was bought for Rs 2 crore by the Gujarat Giants.
Devine saw a bidding war between the Giants and the RCB, with Delhi Capitals entering the race to sign her at Rs 1.1 crore. Eventually, it was the Giants who acquired her for Rs 2 crore.
The 36-year-old played the first two seasons for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and was part of the title-winning side in the second edition in 2024. She made 136 runs in 10 matches and also took six wickets to help the Smriti Mandhana-led side go all the way in the tournament.
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Overall, Devine made 402 runs in 18 matches for RCB at a strike rate of 153.43 with a highest score of 99, which came against the Gujarat Giants in the inaugural edition.
Healy, who was the first player to come out in the marquee set, went unsold at a base price of Rs 50 lakh. She could be called back later in the accelerated phase.
What is Right-to-Match?
Right-To-Match, as the name suggests, is for franchises to bring back one of the players that they had released before the retention deadlines. Ahead of the last IPL mega auction, the league announced that the franchises can retain a total of 6 players from their existing squad. This could be either via retention at fixed-price slabs or by using the RTM option at the auction. Teams tend to use RTM if they believe they can get a player cheaper than their existing contracts. The RTM was previously used at the mega auctions before IPL 2014 and IPL 2018, but scrapped before the 2022 edition. It made a comeback with a modified clause. In the past, if the franchise used RTM after another team’s successful bid for one of their released players, it was enough to sign them back. But this time around, after a franchised used RTM, the highest bidder was allowed to name an improved one-time price, with the older franchise has to then match or say no.