Here's how each of the five squads stack up after the WPL 2027 auction.
UP Warriorz
Number of players: 18 (6 overseas)
Hot take: UPW came in with the biggest purse and bought the most players (eight), including Sophie Molineux for INR 1.1 crore (US$120,000 approx.). They have a squad with plenty of top-order players and bowlers, but few middle-order batters. They boast a spin-heavy unit with the addition of offspinner Sneh Rana, legspinner Asha Sobhana and left-arm spinners Sahana Pawar and Molineux. Kathryn Bryce was a steal at base price, and gives them the option to field five overseas players in the XI since she is from Scotland, an Associate nation.
Possible best XI: 1 Meg Lanning* (capt), 2 Phoebe Litchfield*, 3 Harleen Deol, 4 Simran Shaikh, 5 Deepti Sharma, 6 Sophie Molineux*, 7 Kathryn Bryce* 8 Sophie Ecclestone*, 9 Sushma Verma (wk), 10 Shikha Pandey, 11 Kranti Gaud
Full squad
Batters: Meg Lanning (capt), Phoebe Litchfield, Simran Shaikh, Pratika Rawal
Wicketkeepers: Sushma Verma, Shipra Giri
Allrounders: Deepti Sharma, Shikha Pandey, Sophie Molineux, Harleen Deol, Grace Harris, Kathryn Bryce, Sneh Rana
Spinners: Sophie Ecclestone, Asha Sobhana, Sahana Pawar
Fast bowlers: Manali Dakshini, Kranti Gaud
What they said
"[We were going to get Molineux] at any cost. Grace [Harris] brings power to the middle order, Sophie Molineux obviously leadership qualities, an exceptional bowler and fantastic with the team in general. Our thought was her and Sophie Ecclestone together would be a lethal force."
UPW COO and director of cricket, Kshemal Waingankar
Delhi Capitals
Number of players: 17 (6 overseas)
Hot take: DC had the tough job of finding a wicketkeeper-batter after releasing Lizelle Lee. They didn't buy a wicketkeeper at the auction and will likely have to play the uncapped Madiwala Mamatha in all their games. They will hope that doesn't cost them much because of the many allrounders in their squad, with the addition of the hard-hitting Kiran Navgire. DC also did well to buy Scotland left-arm spinner Kirstie Gordon that could help them play five overseas players (if one of them is an Associate player).
Possible best XI: 1 Shafali Verma, 2 Kiran Navgire, 3 Laura Wolvaardt*, 4 Jemimah Rodrigues (capt), 5 Annabel Sutherland*, 6 Marizanne Kapp*, 7 Niki Prasad, 8 Chinelle Henry*, 9 Madiwala Mamatha (wk), 10 N Shree Charani, 11 Nandani Sharma
Full squad
Batters: Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues (capt), Laura Wolvaardt, Kiran Navgire, Deeya Yadav
Wicketkeepers: Madiwala Mamatha
Allrounders: Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp, Chinelle Henry, Niki Prasad, Minnu Mani, Lucy Hamilton, Uma Kashvi, Nazma Khan
Spinners: N Shree Charani, Kirstie Gordon
Fast bowlers: Nandani Sharma
What they said
"We identified early we wanted a hard-hitting or dynamic Indian batter. And we got that in Kiran Navgire early. She's one of the most dynamic batters in the auction. She's a wonderful player of spin through the middle order. And, yeah, we felt one area we were potentially lacking at times has been a little bit of power in our batting, and we feel that she can give that to us."
DC head coach Jonathan Batty
Mumbai Indians
Number of players: 18 (six overseas)
Hot take: MI had the smallest purse heading into the auction with six slots to fill. They ended up buying six uncapped players, with new head coach Luke Williams saying the strategy was to get young players as back-ups. They needed a wicketkeeper after releasing G Kamalini, though they have Rahila Firdous in their side. They bought Shweta Sehrawat, who has developed into a wicketkeeper and did the job for UP Warriorz last season. Latika Inamdar could also fill that role, which means their wicketkeeping options are uncapped and inexperienced.
Possible best XI: 1 Hayley Matthews*, 2 Melie Kerr*, 3 Nat Sciver-Brunt*, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Amanjot Kaur, 6 Shweta Sehrawat (wk), 7 S Sajana, 8 Sanskriti Gupta, 9 Tara Norris*, 10 Shabnim Ismail*, 11 Vaishnavi Sharma
Full squad
Batters: Harmanpreet Kaur, Sanika Chalke, Disha Kasat
Wicketkeepers: Rahila Firdous, Shweta Sehrawat, Latika Inamdar
Allrounders: Nat Sciver-Brunt, Melie Kerr, Hayley Matthews, Amanjot Kaur, S Sajana, Nicola Carey, Akshita Bhagat
Spinners: Vaishnavi Sharma, Sanskriti Gupta
Fast bowlers: Shabnim Ismail, Tara Norris
What they said
"With the retentions, we had a sort of solid core group that we were able to retain. So, certainly, today was about trying to add to the group, whether that's in the starting XI potentially, or if not, providing different options and coverage through the tournament, depending on what surfaces we play on and if there's any injuries or players out of form."
MI head coach Luke Williams.
Gujarat Giants
Number of players: 18 (six overseas)
Hot take: GG bought G Kamalini at her base price of INR 40 lakh, but they already have two solid wicketkeeper options in Beth Mooney and Yastika Bhatia. Then they got Orla Prendergast, the first Ireland player to feature in the WPL, and promising 16-year-old allrounder Samaira Raghav from Delhi. With these three names, they have added some solid reserves who can play in the starting XI if needed.
Possible best XI: 1 Beth Mooney (wk)*, 2 Sophie Devine*, 3 Yastika Bhatia, 4 Ashleigh Gardner (capt)*, 5 Anushka Sharma, 6 Bharti Fulmali, 7 Kanika Ahuja, 8 Kashvee Gautam, 9 Kim Garth*, 10 Rajeshwari Gayakwad, 11 Renuka Singh
Full squad
Batters: Bharti Fulmali, Anushka Sharma
Wicketkeepers: Beth Mooney, Yastika Bhatia, G Kamalini
Allrounders: Ashleigh Gardner, Sophie Devine, Georgia Wareham, Kashvee Gautam, Orla Prendergast, Samaira Raghav
Spinners: Kanika Ahuja, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Tanuja Kanwar
Fast bowlers: Kim Garth, Happy Kumari, Jintimani Kalita, Renuka Singh
What they said
"We felt Kamalini was the best batter in the auction and we were looking for an allrounder in our squad. Orla Prendergast is a medium-pace allrounder; I was lucky enough to work with her at Welsh Fire in the Hundred this year. The versatility she can give us in our squad whether there's an injury, whether we want another overseas medium-pace option, she can bat in the top six or seven. She's a world-class allrounder so it'll be great to have her in the squad."
GG Head coach Michael Klinger
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Number of players: 17 (6 overseas)
Hot take: RCB could have not bought anyone at the auction and still had a formidable squad for their title defence. But having picked Jess Jonassen and Chloe Tryon to complement Nadine de Klerk as potential lower-middle order options, RCB have the flexibility to adopt a horses-for-courses approach based on conditions and match-ups. They also strengthened their Indian bench by signing the experienced Tejal Hasabnis.
Possible best XI: 1 Smriti Mandhana (capt), 2 Georgia Voll*, 3 Ellyse Perry*, 4 Tejal Hasabnis, 5 Richa Ghosh (wk), 6 Radha Yadav, 7 Nadine de Klerk*, 8 Pooja Vastrakar/Prema Rawat, 9 Shreyanka Patil, 10 Lauren Bell*, 11 Sayali Satghare
Full squad
Batters: Smriti Mandhana (capt), Georgia Voll, Tejal Hasabnis, Vrinda Dinesh
Wicketkeepers: Richa Ghosh, Kumar Prathyoosha
Allrounders: Pooja Vastrakar, Ellyse Perry, Radha Yadav, Nadine de Klerk, Jess Jonassen, Chloe Tryon
Spinners: Shreyanka Patil, Prema Rawat
Fast bowlers: Lauren Bell, Sayali Satghare, Arundhati Reddy
What they said
"We, I think for lack of a better phrase, tried to throw the kitchen sink at Sophie Molineux. Would have loved to have her. Everybody knows how good a cricketer she is. But a similar left-arm spinner and who also gives us depth with batting was JJ [Jess Jonassen], who was very high on our ranking list also. It just so worked out that JJ came later in the auction."
RCB head coach Malolan Rangarajan.