UP Warriorz exercised a "right to match" option to match Delhi Capitals' offer of 32 million rupees ($358,000) to retain 28-year-old Sharma on Thursday, as five franchises spent a combined total of 408 million rupees ($4.5 million) to acquire 67 players ahead of the fourth season of the Twenty20 league.

New Zealand's Amelia Kerr was the second priciest player at the auction held in New Delhi, purchased for 30 million rupees by the defending champions Mumbai Indians, for whom she has played since 2023.

Mumbai, two-time champions of the Indian T20 league, have kept five players, the maximum allowed for pre-auction retentions by the WPL, including India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, as they aimed to preserve their core squad ahead of their title defense.

However, wicketkeeper-batter Healy, who represented UP last year, was the surprise of the night as she was the only one among the eight marquee players who went unsold.

UP also invested heavily in two former Delhi players, acquiring Indian all-rounder Shikha Pandey for 24 million rupees and Australian top-order batter Meg Lanning for 19 million rupees.

New Zealand all-rounder Sophie Devine, who skipped the 2025 WPL season, was the focus of a fierce bidding contest involving three teams, including her former club Royal Challengers Bengaluru, before being acquired by Gujarat Giants for 20 million rupees.

Delhi, having lost three consecutive WPL finals, held back on their bids after retaining five players, including Indian internationals Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma.

They signed Shree Charani and Chinelle Henry for 13 million rupees each, and also added South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt for 11 million rupees.

The 2026 edition of the WPL is scheduled from January 9th to February 5th in Navi Mumbai and Vadodara. The final will occur two days before India co-hosts the men's T20 World Cup with Sri Lanka.