WPL 2026 Captains: Have teams leaders been locked in? What we know so far

As the Women’s Premier League (WPL) hurtles toward its 2026 season, one of the major storylines remains unsettled: who will captain the five franchises.

According to the Tata WPL official site, the retention phase has wrapped up, but no captaincy awards have been publicly confirmed so far.

On November 7, 2025, the WPL officially announced that 17 players have been retained across the five teams—including seven overseas stars and three uncapped players.


But while this list names players like Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, Ashleigh Gardner, and Beth Mooney, it makes no mention of which of them will wear the captain’s “C” next season.

However, there's a likelihood that captains may emerge from the list of these players.

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Women’s Premier League 2026: List of likely captains

Franchise	Likely Captain(s) Based on Retentions
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)	Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh
Mumbai Indians (MI)	Harmanpreet Kaur, Natalie Sciver
Gujarat Giants (GG)	Ashleigh Gardner, Beth Mooney
Delhi Capitals (DC)	Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma
UP Warriorz (UPW)	Shweta Sehrawat

WPL 2026: The highlights so far

• Mumbai Indians retained Harmanpreet Kaur, Natalie Sciver, Hayley Matthews, Amanjot Kaur, and G. Kamalini.
• Royal Challengers Bengaluru held on to Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, Ellyse Perry, and Shreyanka Patil.
• Delhi Capitals retained marquee players including Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp, and Niki Prasad.
• Gujarat Giants kept Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney, while UP Warriorz retained only Shweta Sehrawat.

That retention data suggests that each franchise has core building blocks in place — including players who have captained in the past or shown leadership potential — but the WPL’s own media advisory does not designate any of them as captains for 2026.

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This leaves open the possibility that teams will make final leadership calls during pre-season camps or even after the auction, based on how their squads shape up. Without formal announcements from the league or teams, fans and analysts alike will have to wait for clarity.