Malolan Rangarajan decodes RCB's retentions ahead of WPL 2026 Mega Auction

Royal Challengers Bengaluru announced their retentions ahead of the upcoming WPL 2026 Mega Auction, confirming Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, Ellyse Perry and Shreyanka Patil as the four players who have re-signed with the franchise.

Newly appointed Head Coach, Malolan Rangarajan, outlined the thinking behind each retention and the overall plan.

On Smriti Mandhana as the first retention, Malolan said, “She will continue to lead RCB as captain. With Smriti, we get a left-handed opener, a very aggressive batter - that’s how we want to play. And also a very calm leader who we think is tactically astute. And not to forget, she was the captain who brought RCB its first title.”

Malolan showered praise on Richa Ghosh, explaining the rationale behind retaining her as he remarked, “She is among, if not the best, middle-order batter, definitely a phenomenal one. Plus, being a wicketkeeper gives us all-round ability. Her relationship with risk and how she faces pressure situations is exactly what we want in our batting order, and she’s someone we view with leadership potential as well.”

Offering some insight into the reasons behind re-signing Ellyse Perry, Malolan quipped, “I could go on about her achievements on the field, but I want to mention what happens behind the scenes and the standards she sets for our dressing room. Having her involved in our future is very exciting. On the field, she gives us three skills: top-order batting, she’s among the top run-getters across three years. Very handy seam bowling in powerplay, middle, or death, plus elite fielding. She’s a live wire.”

RCB’s Head Coach shed some light on how time was taken to make a decision on Shreyanka’s retention, as he explained the factors behind the call and said, “Shreyanka is our young and bubbly off-spinner from Bengaluru. We wanted to give ourselves a bit of time because she’d been on the sidelines for the last year or so. We gave her opportunities to play a couple of tournaments, watched her closely, did our due diligence, had healthy discussions among the coaches and core group, and decided to retain her because she’s an exceptional cricketer- an off-spinner who can bowl in two to three phases. She’s an India capped player and lets us build around three Indian core players plus Perry, which made it a very exciting prospect.”

Malolan also confirmed the retention values and remaining purse and said, “We’ve retained Smriti Mandhana at INR 3.5 crore, Richa Ghosh at INR 2.75 crore, Ellyse Perry at INR 2 crore, and Shreyanka Patil at INR 60 lakh. Cumulatively, that’s INR 8.85 crore, leaving us with about INR 6.15 crore going into the auction.”