UP Warriorz hold nearly half the money: Can they rebuild?

UP Warriorz have had more than an ordinary last season earlier in 2026, as they finished at the bottom of the points table. But this time they have the biggest purse with Rs 3.75 crore, and that gives them a huge advantage to fill up the eight spot including three for overseas players. Can they turn that into a decisive edge this time?

After the Warriorz, Gujarat Giants have a Rs 1.25 crore purse, then Royal Challengers Bengaluru have Rs 1.15 crore to spend, Delhi Capitals have Rs 1.10 crore and Mumbai Indians have Rs 1 crore. Clearly, the Warriorz are quite ahead of the others.

The poor performance in the last season called for some serious decisions, and the Warriorz responded by letting big players go — Amy Jones, Deandra Dottin and Chloe Tryon. To save the core of the team, the Warriorz retained Meg Lanning, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Ecclestone and Deepti Sharma. Now that the core is somewhat settled for the team, they will be looking to build a side around them, and that would be a huge task.


This time, 146 players will go into the auction, including 119 Indians and 27 overseas players, but only 27 might get a contract. Thus, the competition is huge, and it is also a big task for the UP Warriorz management to pick the right players who could rally around their core and live up to the expectations in the crunch games. Though this is a small auction, for UP Warriorz this will decide whether they will make their presence felt in the next edition or not, because they have many weaknesses.

A big purse, but a lot of holes

UP Warriorz's biggest champion and hope is Deepti Sharma, a proven performer who has won many games for Team India, and she became the most expensive Indian retention with Rs 3.2 crore after Smriti Mandhana. Sharma is a fantastic all-rounder, and Warriorz also have an experienced and hugely talented captain, Meg Lanning, who can inspire others. Another top contender is Phoebe Litchfield, an aggressive left-handed option who can turn the game on its head at any time. Meanwhile, Sophie Ecclestone has remained their main weapon with the ball, while Shikha Pandey is a cool head who brings that much-needed experience to the bowling group. Other notable players who are retained include some serious contenders, including Harleen Deol, Pratika Rawal, Kranti Gaud, Shipra Giri and Simran Shaikh.

On paper, UP Warriorz look like a squad with serious firepower, but the players they released reveal the lost depth of their squad. They let go of Deandra Dottin, Chloe Tryon, Amy Jones, Asha Sobhana, Kiran Navgire, Shweta Sehrawat, Charli Knott, Gongadi Trisha and Suman Meena. This shows that Warriorz are desperately looking for serious reinforcements in key areas, including power-hitting, batting depth and death bowling. But three overseas slots give Warriorz more freedom this time, and they can pick and choose carefully.

Many cricket pundits were surprised when the Warriorz released Dottin and Tryon, world-class all-rounders who have had contributed immensely by winning many games for their respective countries both with both bat and ball. But their not-so-great performance with the Warriorz, was a reminder that big names sometimes don't fit the bill, and it's better to rebuild from scratch.

Big purse to chase big names

UP Warriorz have serious money and freedom to chase big players of the game, but they need to choose judiciously, as a couple of expensive buys could eat up their purse, and that would further exacerbate their problems. Besides chasing international players, Warriorz also need to fill up five slots for Indian players. Here, they need to either go for established Indian players or choose young guns who could be the surprise package this time.

Time for a big fix

Instead of making some minor adjustments to the squad, UP Warriorz have gone for a complete overhaul and are looking to make a significant change in their squad because last season's drubbing certainly made a few heads roll. Now it's up to the management to address those weaknesses. It would be exciting to see, when the auction begins in Kochi on October 28, how the team with the biggest purse will choose because, before the real action begins on the field, this is where the future will be decided.