The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) hasnt officially told the teams that the Womens Premier League (WPL) auction will be held in New Delhi. However a Cricbuzz report says the franchises have been informally informed about the proposed venue. The auction is now expected to take place on either November 26 or 27 though the final date is yet to be confirmed. When will the WPL 2026 Auction take place? The BCCI had earlier said the auction could happen anytime between November 26 and 29. It will likely finish in one day even though it is being promoted as a big event. Even if up to 90 players are available to choose from the auction should be quick because there are only five teams and each team can have a maximum of 18 players. For the first time the Right to Match (RTM) rule will be used allowing teams to keep a player they released by matching the highest offer made during the auction. But if a team keeps all five players before the auction INR 9.25 crore will be taken from their budget and they won’t be able to use the RTM option. What are the new rules? Under the new rules teams can keep up to three experienced Indian players two foreign players and two new Indian players without caps. However they cannot keep more than five players in total. This system allows teams to hold onto key players while also giving chances to new local players creating a good balance between keeping strong teams and encouraging competition. The Right to Match (RTM) rule will be used for the first time letting teams get back a player they released by matching the highest bid during the auction. But if teams keep all five players they can’t use RTM and will lose INR 9.25 crore from their auction money. Heres how the retention money will be deducted: 1st player kept - INR 3.50 crore 2nd player kept - INR 2.50 crore 3rd player kept - INR 1.75 crore 4th player kept - INR 1 crore 5th player kept - INR 50 lakh Mumbai Indians (MI) who won the championship in 2023 are the current champions. They beat Delhi Capitals (DC) in the finals both times. Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) didn’t make it to the Eliminator in 2023 or 2025 even though they won the championship the year before.