Did Harmanpreet Kaur sacrifice position as top retention for MI?

Mumbai Indians Women have opted to make Harmanpreet Kaur as the second retention ahead of Nat Sciver-Brunt before the Women’s Premier League 2026. Despite the star leading the side to their second title in 2025, the Punjab star has been retained for Rs 2.50 crore, below the England star ahead of the WPL 2026 auction. Experts, including  former India cricketer Reema Malhotra and Saba Karim have backed the decision for MI to opt for Nat Sciver-Brunt over Harmanpreet as the first retention.

Is Harmanpreet over Sciver-Brunt right for WPL 2026?

Harmanpreet managed to score 302 runs from 10 matches in WPL 2025, averaging 33.35 including 3 fifties. In the recently concluded Women’s World Cup 2025, she scored 260 runs from 9 matches, including a highest score of 89 in the semi-final against Australia.

“Yes, they would definitely have consulted her after winning the World Cup. There was a small meeting before the team left for Delhi, and Harmanpreet attended it briefly. This shows that the Mumbai Indians always make decisions after discussing with the captain. There must have been a conversation with Harman about Nat Sciver-Brunt being the first retention and her being the second. I don’t think this makes any difference to Harman. Her involvement in team-building is 100 per cent. She has always rated Nat very highly, and now the team values her just as much,” Reema Malhotra said.

Meanwhile, England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt emerged as the leading run-getter for MIW in WPL 2025, with 523 runs from 10 matches, averaging 65.37 and scoring five half-centuries. Her record in WPL 2025 completely justifies why she is picked as the top retention over Harmanpreet.

Full list of MI’s retentions for WPL 2026

1. Retention 1 – Nat Sciver-Brunt (Rs 3.50 crore)
2. Retention 2 – Harmanpreet Kaur (Rs 2.50 crore)
3. Retention 3 – Hayley Matthews (Rs 1.75 crore)
4. Retention 4 – Amanjot Kaur (Rs 1 crore)
5. Retention 5 – G Kamalini (uncapped) (Rs 50 lakhs)
6. RTM – 0
   Purse left – Rs 5.75 crore

MI release list for WPL 2026

Amelia Kerr✈️, Chloe Tryon✈️, Jintimani Kalita, Pooja Vastrakar, Saika Ishaque, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Shabnim Ismail ✈️, Amandeep Kaur, S. Sajana, Keerthana Balankrishnan, Nadine de Klerk✈️, Sanskriti Gupta, Akshita Maheswari