Questions on Lanning & Kapp; Jemimah certain

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride – an adage that very well sits for the Delhi Capitals (DC) Women. In all three completed Women’s Premier League (WPL) seasons, DC have finished at the top of the table, playing across all the finals. Yet, the elusive title remains a distant dream. While the Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have won WPL titles, DC are trophyless.

WPL 2025 Retentions

Yet, they have a strong core of players and it will be extremely tough ahead of the WPL 2026 mega auction. In fact, among all the five WPL teams, DC will have the most selection headaches. The kind of talent that they possess is a luxury but that is what a mega auction is all about. A chance for every team to rejig the squad. As for Delhi Capitals, they would love to retain the major core.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has set November 5 as the deadline for the WPL franchise to name their retentions. Of course, it isn’t mandatory to retain even one player since the Right to Match (RTM) card has been introduced. However, retaining all 5 players would cost a franchise at least INR 9.25 crore, which is more than 60% of the entire purse (15). A maximum of 3 capped Indian players, 2 overseas players, and 2 uncapped Indian players can be retained.

Predicted DC Women retention list for WPL 2026 mega auction

The big dilemma for DC will certainly be on some older yet influential players. We are talking about their captain, Meg Lanning, who has been a force to be reckoned with. However, with age (33) not on her side, DC might as well look for the future in this WPL cycle. A mega auction is where teams look for future as well and DC have other options.

Jemimah Rodrigues is now one of the faces of Indian women’s cricket after her once-in-a-lifetime innings against Australia at the ODI World Cup 2025. Her unbeaten 127* was one of the major reasons why India lifted the elusive trophy. Now, DC would want to make her the face of the franchise too, and she might end up as the top retention.

Similarly, Shafali Verma is a talent that you don’t want to miss out on. She has done extremely well for Delhi, having scored 865 runs at an outstanding strike rate of 162.59 across three seasons. The Player of the Match in the ICC Women’s World Cup final, the 21-year-old needs to be retained, as there’s no one like her. Yes, she can be inconsistent sometimes but the upside is massive.

Retention 1 (INR 3.50 crore): Jemimah Rodrigues
Retention 2 (INR 2.50 crore): Shafali Verma
Retention 1 (INR 1.75 crore): ✈️Marizanne Kapp
Retention 4 (INR 1.00 crore): ✈️Annabel Sutherland
Retention 5 (INR 50.00 lakh): Niki Prasad
RTM: 0
Purse Left: INR 5.75 crore

Kapp & Sutherland needed

There could be a toss-up between Marizanne Kapp and Jess Jonassen. While Kapp is 35 and DC might look to get her back at the auction, Jonassen is also 33. Both have done extremely well for DC and have been part of the franchise for three years. The left-arm spin of Jonassen could definitely be needed, as she is the highest wicket-taker of the franchise with 33 wickets at an average of 20.75. Kapp, meanwhile, has 28 scalps at 19.57. Kapp’s batting abilites are second to none as well.

Interestingly, DC are one of those rare teams who can easily retain two overseas players, as they have a certain Annabel Sutherland in their ranks. Being one of the fastest pacers, she provides an X-factor. She is young (24) and had a terrific Women’s World Cup too. She was part of the team of the ICC Women’s World Cup as well. Her death bowling prowess has gone better with time and Sutherland outshone the likes of Ellyse Perry and Tahlia McGrath in the World Cup.

Among uncapped players, DC have an options to choose between Nandini Kashyap and Niki Prasad. They gave a chance to Prasad last season and she showed spark with 78 runs at 39.00, including 25 runs in the final.  She captained the India Under-19 team to a T20 World Cup title in February 2025 too. Meanwhile Kashyap wasn’t tested. While Kashyap has had a strong domestic record, including a prolific 2024 season with 579 runs in T20s, she did not get a chance to prove herself in the WPL 2025 season.

Delhi Capitals WPL 2025 squad

Meg Lanning (c), Alice Capsey, Sarah Bryce, Annabel Sutherland, Minnu Mani, Shafali Verma, Arundhati Reddy, N Charani, Shikha Pandey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Nandini Kashyap, Sneha Deepthi, Jess Jonassen, Niki Prasad, Taniyaa Bhatia, Marizanne Kapp, Radha Yadav, Titas Sadhu.