Each franchise has a total budget of Rs. 25 lakh, comprising Rs. 15 lakh for the player auction, Rs. 7 lakh for foreign players and Rs. 3 lakh for its Icon player. The overall player budget for the league stands at Rs. 1.5 crore. Each team will field a 14-player squad, taking the total number of players across the six franchises to 84.
Five players reached the auction's highest bid of Rs. 2.5 lakh. Punjab SherniZ secured Kavita, Bengaluru Thunders signed Anna Mathew and Ezhilmathi D P, Rajasthan Queens acquired Shilpa R S, while Mumbai Dolphins won the bidding for Prerona Pal.
Hyderabad Harriers moved quickly to secure setter Nandana V for Rs. 2.4 lakh, while Lucknow Shahi Warriors made Anamika P their highest-priced acquisition at Rs. 1.8 lakh. Bengaluru Thunders emerged as the biggest spenders in the auction, using Rs. 13.9 lakh of their Rs. 15 lakh auction purse.
Each franchise will build its squad around a marquee Icon player. The six Icon players are Anagha Radhakrishnan for Bengaluru Thunders, Shaalini Saravanan for Mumbai Dolphins, Ayushi Bhandari for Rajasthan Queens, Roli Pathak for Lucknow Shahi Warriors, Anusree K P for Hyderabad Harriers and Juhi Shaw for Punjab SherniZ.
The franchise owners were present at the auction tables. Bengaluru Thunders was represented by Inderjeet Singh, Brajesha Sharma, Amresndra Singh, Jai Govind Singh, Manju Singh and Mritunjay Singh. Mumbai Dolphins was represented by Tamoghon Gupta, Mukesh Kumar, Nirankar Singh and Jaswant Singh. Raju Jatt represented Rajasthan Queens, Anjali Mishra represented Lucknow Shahi Warriors and Sunit Kumar represented Hyderabad Harriers. Punjab SherniZ was represented by Ashu Bhadouria, Madhur Lahoti, Anany Pratap Singh, Indresh Pratap Singh and Pramugdha Solanki.
Dr. R.P. Singh attended the auction as chief guest, while Dr. Rajeshwar Singh, MLA of Sarojini Nagar, was present as guest of honour. Wrestling champion and WPVL brand ambassador Sangram Singh also joined the franchise owners on stage.
The event was organised by Powerspike International and managed by Xperia Group.
Addressing the occasion, Mrs. Ritu Shahi, Founder of WPVL, said, “Today, India's women volleyball players finally have a league of their own. Season 1 is only the beginning. We want to build a lasting pathway that grows every year and inspires young girls across the country to pick up a volleyball.”
With the squads now assembled, the six franchises are preparing for the league's inaugural season. The tournament will run for eleven days at Ekana Stadium in Lucknow, from 11 to 21 November 2026, with the teams competing for the first-ever WPVL crown.
The league is backed by Ptraani by Nupur, King Power, JUST, Vixen, HYPR and Yushfa.
The Women's Pro Volleyball League is India's first professional women's volleyball league, affiliated with the Steering Committee, Volleyball Federation of India. Founded by Mrs. Ritu Shahi and Dr. Bukhrat Ahmed and organised by Powerspike International, WPVL aims to provide India's women volleyball players with a professional stage.
About The Author
Comment List