Delhi: Indian women’s team’s star all-rounder Deepti Sharma was an important player in Team India’s victory in the Women’s World Cup 2025. Deepti’s bid in the mega auction of Women’s Premier League 2026 (WPL) heated up the entire atmosphere. After his name appeared in the list of marquee players, there was no interest in him as expected. Despite the base price being Rs 50 lakh, no one bid quickly for Deepti. However, finally UP Warriors used the Right to Match (RTM) card and made him a part of their team again for Rs 3.2 crore.

How did Deepti go back to UP?

As soon as Deepti Sharma’s name was called in the marquee set of the auction, there was silence between the teams. In the first few seconds it seemed that no one was bidding. Then Delhi Capitals (DC) bid at his base price of Rs 50 lakh. After this, no team made any bid, after which Deepti’s old team UP Warriors was asked about the use of RTM, which they accepted. When RTM arrived, Delhi Capitals adopted an aggressive strategy and raised the bid to Rs 3.2 crore. On this huge amount, UP Warriors used their RTM card and included Deepti back in the team.

The most interesting thing is that just a few weeks before the auction, UP surprised everyone by releasing Deepti Sharma. This was presented by the franchise management as a strategic thinking like “squad reset” and “long-term planning”.

In India’s 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup winning team, Deepti had performed well with both bat and ball and became the Player of the Tournament on the basis of her all-round show in the entire tournament.