'A Great Opportunity For Us To...': RCB Head Coach Luke Williams Reveals Strategy For WPL 2025 Auction

The much-anticipated Women’s Premier League (WPL) Player 2025 Auction is to be held on December 15, Sunday in Bengaluru. The Player Auction will begin at 3 PM IST and provide an opportunity to all five franchises to sharpen themselves ahead of the forthcoming WPL edition.

A total of 120 players have been shortlisted for the WPL 2025 Player Auction. Out of the 120, 91 are Indians and the rest overseas which includes three from associate nations. Out of the 91 Indian players, only nine of them are capped. On the other hand, there are 8 uncapped players in the overseas section.  

Notably, most of the franchises have retained their core ahead of the auction with only 19 slots (including 5 for overseas) up for grabs.

Speaking ahead of the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2025 auction, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) head coach Luke Williams reflected on his team and also revealed their strategy for the mega event in Bengaluru.

The Smriti Mandhana-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru are the defending champions of the WPL, having beaten Delhi Capitals in the 2024 final. As expected, RCB have maintained the core of their winning side.

Some of the noticeable names which RCB released are - Nadine de Klerk, Heather Knight, Simran Dil Bahadur and others. They also traded England batter Danni Wyatt from UP Warriorz (UPW).

RCB head coach feels that the team management has retained a strong core to ensure consistency in the upcoming tournament.

"We have looked to retain a solid core of the squad that was successful in last year's tournament to maintain that consistency within the team on and off the field. However, the mini-auction does provide a great opportunity for us to keep evolving and add additional players to our line-up that we think could impact the WPL and improve our squad," Williams was quoted saying in a media release from RCB.

RCB already have overseas fast bowling options in Ellyse Perry and Sophie Devine. So, they could look at a frontline fast bowler to partner India pacer Renuka Singh. A middle-order Indian batting option could be handy too.

Retained players: Smriti Mandhana, Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Kanika Ahuja, Asha Sobhana, Georgia Wareham, Kate Cross, Ekta Bisht, S Meghana, Sophie Molineux

Traded in: Danni Wyatt (from UP Warriorz)

Released Players: Heather Knight, Simran Dil Bahadur, Disha Kasat, Shubha Sateesh, Shradda Pokharkar, Indrani Roy, Nadine de Klerk

Slots remaining: 4 (0 overseas)

Purse remaining: INR 3.25 crore