WPL: Smriti, Devine, Perry among RCB's 11 retained players ahead of 2024 season

BENGALAURU: Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) announced their list of retained players ahead of the 2024 Women's Premier League (WPL) season, retaining stars like skipper Smriti Mandhana, Heather Knight, Sophie Devine, Ellyse Perry and Renuka Singh.

In the inaugural season of the league held this year, RCB failed to qualify for the playoffs and won only two out of their eight matches.

"RCB has retained a total of 11 players ahead of WPL 2024, which will be the second edition of the Women's Premier League," said a statement from RCB.

"Apart from retaining the Indian international trio of skipper Smriti Mandhana, wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh and pacer Renuka Singh, the list of RCB's retained players also includes three foreign players - Ellyse Perry, Sophie Devine and Heather Knight," continued the statement.

Shreyanka Patil, Kanika Ahuja and Asha Sobhana were retained after impressing in the inaugural edition of the WPL. In addition RCB also re-signed the services of promising batter Disha Kasat and dynamic wicket-keeper batter Indrani Roy.

"With a total of 11 retentions made and 7 players released, RCB are left with a total purse of I3.35 crore rupees to spend at the auction. They will also have 7 slots to fill in the WPL auction for the following year," added the statement.

A total of 60 players were retained across five franchises which included 21 overseas cricketers while 29 players were released from their respective squads.

RCB's list of retained players: Asha Shobana, Disha Kasat, Indrani Roy, Kanika Ahuja, Renuka Singh, Richa Ghosh, Shreyanka Patil, Smriti Mandhana, Ellyse Perry (overseas), Heather Knight (overseas), Sophie Devine (overseas).

Players released by RCB: Komal Zanzad, Poonam Khemnar, Preeti Bose, Sahana Pawar, Dane van Niekerk (overseas), Erin Burns (overseas), Megan Schutt (overseas).