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Mumbai Indians allrounder Nat Sciver-Brunt, Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Smriti Mandhana and Gujarat Giants allrounder Ashleigh Gardner have been retained for the maximum price of INR 3.5 crore ahead of the 2026 Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction.The WPL officially released the list of players retained by the franchises on Thursday and Sciver-Brunt – not the captain Harmanpreet Kaur – was MI’s first retention. RCB wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh was retained for INR 2.75 crore, the second-highest bracket, while Harmanpreet and Giants opener Beth Mooney were retained for INR 2.5 crore each. There were a few notable surprises in the retention list. UP Warriorz chose not to retain Deepti Sharma, the recent ODI World Cup’s Player of the Tournament, holding on to only one player in Shweta Sehrawat. Among other major releases were Amelia Kerr, Alyssa Healy, and Delhi Capitals captain Meg Lanning.As per WPL retention rules, franchises can retain a maximum of three capped Indian players, two overseas players, and at most two uncapped Indian players. If a franchise wanted to retain five players, at least one of them should be an uncapped Indian player. The WPL has for the first time given teams right-to-match (RTM) options at the auction to buy back a player who was part of their 2025 squad.Each franchise has been allotted INR 15 crore to build their squad for WPL 2026. It is understood that the mega player auction will take place in Delhi on November 27.Here’s the full list of players retained by all five franchises:

Mumbai Indians

Players retained: Nat Sciver-Brunt – INR 3.5 crore, Harmanpreet Kaur – INR 2.5 crore, Hayley Matthews – INR 1.75 crore, Amanjot Kaur – INR 1 crore, G Kamalini – INR 50 lakh
Money spent: INR 9.25 crore; Purse remaining: INR 5.75 crore; No RTM option available
Notable players released: Amelia Kerr, Nadine de Klerk, Yastika Bhatia, Chloe Tryon, Shabnim Ismail

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Players retained: Smriti Mandhana – INR 3.5 crore, Richa Ghosh – INR 2.75 crore, Ellyse Perry – INR 2 crore, Shreyanka Patil – INR 60 lakh
Money spent: INR 8.85 crore; Purse remaining: INR 6.15 crore; One RTM option available
Notable players released: Renuka Singh, Sophie Devine, Sophie Molineux, Danni Wyatt-HodgeWhat they said: “Her association with risk and how she faces pressure situations is exactly what we want in our batting order,” new head coach Malolan Rangarajan said of retaining Ghosh. “And somebody we view with leadership potential as well.”

Delhi Capitals

Players retained: Jemimah Rodrigues – INR 2.2 crore, Shafali Verma – INR 2.2 crore. Annabel Sutherland – INR 2.2 crore, Marizanne Kapp – INR 2.2 crore, Niki Prasad – INR 50 lakh
Money spent: INR 9.3 crore; Purse remaining: INR 5.7 crore; No RTM available
Notable players released: Meg Lanning, N Shree Charani, Radha Yadav, Arundhati ReddyWhat they said: “It’s been really tough,” DC head coach Jonathan Batty told JioStar about not retaining Lanning. About who could now lead DC in WPL 2026, he said: “Jemimah’s got a great captaincy record [in domestic cricket]. Obviously, Annabel Sutherland captains in WBBL as well. So there’s lots of candidates out there. We also got the mega auction to come, so there’s some candidates out there as well. So we’re leaving our options open.”

Gujarat Giants

Players retained: Ash Gardner – INR 3.5 crore, Beth Mooney – INR 2.5 crore
Money spent: INR 6 crore; Purse remaining: INR 9 crore available; Three RTM options available
Notable players released: Harleen Deol, Deandra Dottin, Laura Wolvaardt, Phoebe Litchfield

UP Warriorz

Player retained: Shweta Sehrawat – INR 50 lakh
Money spent: INR 50 lakh; Purse remaining: INR 14.50 crore; Four RTM options available
Notable players released: Deepti Sharma, Alyssa Healy, Sophie Ecclestone, Tahlia McGrath, Alana King, Kranti Gaud, Chinelle HenryWhat they said: “I feel the thought process from the think tank, from the support group, was more so to go in with a clean slate, try and have as much money in the purse, to make sure we can not only get the team that we feel we need to win that championship, but also get a lot of these players back in the auction, given the opportunity,” Abhishek Nayar, newly appointed head coach, said. “But the thought process also behind having someone like a Shweta Sehrawat in the ranks and retaining her, was the faith this franchise has put into as a youngster playing three years, being someone who’s played almost every game for us and being able to perform, and now going up the ranks in domestic cricket. We just felt we would love to have someone like that back in our set-up.”

The New York Mets and Seattle Mariners put on a show Sunday night at the Little League Classic. Young ballplayers competing for youth baseball's ultimate prize got a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see their favorite MLB stars up close and a tremendous amount of fun was had per usual.

The Mariners organization and its fans would have had a decidedly worse time had their cornerstone outfielder Julio Rodriguez suffered a significant injury while sledding down a hill on a piece of cardboard, which almost became a reality when a member of security took a spill and nearly landed on his ankle.

Here's the footage, which thankfully ends with everyone invovled getting up and getting on with their day.

That is too close for comfort. And you have to feel for the security person here who was simply trying to hustle to do the job and ended up losing to gravity. Before they were even able to get upright some unhelpful person is joking about a potential Rodriguez ACL injury. It's rough out there.

Rodriguez will be paramount to the Mariners' playoff hopes going forward and their ability to make a deep run if they get there. Plenty of people breathing a sigh of relief realizing this could have been worse.

Stats highlights from MI’s fifth win in a row in IPL 2025, against Lucknow Super Giants

Sampath Bandarupalli27-Apr-20253:25

Rapid Fire: Can MI finish in top 2?

2714 Number of balls taken by Suryakumar Yadav to complete 4000 runs in the IPL – the third quickest to the milestone after Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers, both of whom took 2658 balls.10 Consecutive scores of 25-plus for Suryakumar in IPL 2025, after his 54 off 28 balls against Lucknow Super Giants in Mumbai. He’s only the second batter to achieve such a streak after Robin Uthappa had ten consecutive 40-plus scores in IPL 2014.174 Wickets for Jasprit Bumrah in the IPL after his spell of 4 for 22 against LSG. He is now Mumbai Indians’ leading wicket-taker, surpassing Lasith Malinga’s tally of 170.ESPNcricinfo Ltd16-0 MI’s win-loss record while defending targets of 200-plus in the IPL. They are the only team to defend all their 200-plus totals in the IPL.150 Number of matches MI have won in the IPL, including two via a Super Over. They are the first team to register 150 wins in the IPL.ESPNcricinfo Ltd5 Consecutive matches won by MI in IPL 2025 after starting the season with only one victory in their first five games. The previous instance of MI winning five consecutive IPL matches was in 2020.5 Number of LSG bowlers to concede more than 40 runs against MI at the Wankhede – only the third such instance in IPL history, after Rajasthan Royals against Sunrisers Hyderabad and SRH against Punjab Kings earlier this season.

Tottenham Hotspur are now leading the race to sign FC Porto striker Samu Aghehowa, with the Portuguese club willing to cash-in for a huge fee this winter.

Tottenham have struggled in front of goal at times this season, failing to score in three of their last four matches in all competitions, and the most recent result against Chelsea is likely to be particularly concerning for Thomas Frank.

Spurs fell to a 1-0 defeat at home against their London rivals on Saturday, failing to create a single big chance across the 90 minutes, which meant Randal Kolo Muani was limited to just 16 touches of the ball before being substituted in the second half.

Kolo Muani is yet to get off the mark in front of goal, while Mathys Tel has also struggled, scoring just one Premier League goal this season, and the Frenchman clearly hasn’t impressed Frank, having lost his place in the starting XI in recent weeks.

With that in mind, it would make sense to bring in a new striker in the January transfer window, and the door could be open to sign a Liga Portugal star…

Tottenham leading race for Aghehowa

According to a report from Correio da Manha (via Sport Witness), Tottenham are now in the lead in the race for Porto striker Aghehowa, alongside Chelsea, with the London rivals potentially set to do battle for his signature.

The Portuguese club are now willing to sanction the 21-year-old’s departure for a fee of €80m (£70m) in January, despite the youngster having a €100m (£88m) release clause included in his contract.

A £70m offer is deemed ‘irresistible’, so a deal could be on the cards if Spurs are willing to eclipse the £65m fee they shelled out on Dominic Solanke and break their transfer record.

Journalist Zach Lowy believes the Spaniard, who has the same agent as Mohammed Kudus, could be destined for the very top, singling him out for very high praise on X back in June.

The Melilla-born marksman had a fantastic debut campaign in Portugal, scoring 19 goals in 30 league games, and he has since gone on to make an impressive start to the new season, finding the back of the net nine times in 11 matches in all competitions.

Aghehowa’s goal record at such a young age indicates he could have what it takes to become one of the best strikers in the world, and with Tel and Kolo Muani struggling, it would make sense for Tottenham to pursue a move this winter.

Tottenham now main contenders to sign Jonathan David Tottenham 'main contenders' to sign £188k-p/w Juventus star and it's not Vlahovic

Thomas Frank’s side have been tipped to replace Richarlison.

ByEmilio Galantini Oct 31, 2025

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