India, Oct. 10 -- The Women's Premier League is set for its first mega auction since its inception. As reported by ESPNcricinfo, franchises have been formally told that they can retain up to five players ahead of the event that is slated to take place sometime between November 25-29. This sets the stage for a tactical off-season, where the teams will be strategising their retentions and releases for the next season.

The report claims that an internal mail has been sent to the franchises communicating the framework of the mega auction: retentions, Right-to-Match (RTM), slab-based purse deductions, and the deadlines. This will now trigger the managements to work out the compositions, assess their strengths and weaknesses, and then plan for...