New Delhi, Oct 22: The Women’s Premier League (WPL) mega auction ahead of the 2026 season is set to be held in the last week of November in New Delhi, tournament sources told media on Wednesday.

Media understands that there was a toss-up between New Delhi and Goa as the WPL mega auction venue in the aforementioned window. But in the end, New Delhi emerged as the top choice as the hosts for the mega auction set to be held in the WPL for the first time.

The same has been communicated by the WPL committee to the five franchises – two-time winners Mumbai Indians, 2024 winners Royal Challengers Bengaluru, three-time runners-up Delhi Capitals, UP Warriorz and Gujarat Giants.

“It is most likely during the last week of November that the WPL mega auction will happen. But nothing has been confirmed on the exact date of the auction and its expected to be finalised in some time from now. Once its done, the same will be communicated to the teams,” further said sources.

It is also understood that the auction proceedings will be completed in just one day, considering the number of teams in the competition. As per a previous intimation in October, the retention deadline is November 5, with five players to be retained per team.

Each franchise will be allowed to retain a maximum of three capped Indian players, two overseas players, and two uncapped Indian players. If a team chooses to retain five players, at least one must be an uncapped Indian player.

The auction purse has been set at rs 15 crore. Retention slabs have been defined as follows: Rs 3.5 crore for Player 1, Rs 2.5 crore for Player 2, Rs 1.75 crore for Player 3, Rs 1 crore for Player 4, and Rs 50 lakh for Player 5. The Right to Match (RTM) option will enable franchises to buy back players who were part of their 2025 WPL squads, with a cap of five RTMs per team.

Depending on the number of retained players, the corresponding deductions from the purse will be: Rs 9.25 crore for five players, Rs 8.75 crore for four, Rs 7.75 crore for three, Rs 6 crore for two, and INR 3.5 crore for one. The number of RTMs available will vary accordingly – franchises retaining fewer players will have more RTMs at their disposal. Teams using all five retentions will forfeit the RTM option entirely.

After the retention deadline, franchises will submit players who will head into the auction on November 7, while the final date for the mega auction’s player registration is November 18 and final list of players in the auction will be released on November 20.

New Delhi, Oct 22: As Virat Kohli returned to his favourite hunting ground in Adelaide for the second ODI against Australia, the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) greeted the batting stalwart with a heartfelt message on social media.

Kohli, who had retired from T20Is and Test cricket, returned to international cricket in the first ODI against Australia, seven months after the Champions Trophy victory.

For Kohli, Adelaide has been a successful hunting ground over the years. His first Test hundred came at the same venue during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour of 2011-12. He holds an impressive record at the ground, having scored 975 runs in just 12 international matches, the most by an Indian at this venue.

As Kohli stepped onto the field for the practice session, SACA shared a video of him entering the ground with Kohli’s previous post-match speech as a background score.

After this series, India won’t return to Australia for one-day internationals before the 2027 World Cup, meaning this series is expected to be the last time Kohli plays down under.

“One of cricket’s true icons, Virat Kohli returns to his beloved ground — training here for what may be his final appearance in international colours at Adelaide Oval,” SACA shared on X.

“It has been an honour and a privilege to welcome one of the greatest to ever grace the game over many years. Thank you, Virat, for the memories, the magic, and the moments that will live on in the hearts of South Australians and cricket fans around the world.

“You’ll always be welcome at Adelaide Oval. Don’t be a stranger, mate,” the post read.

Although the charismatic batter failed to make an impact with the bat, registering his first-ever duck on Australian soil, he will be aiming to uphold his impressive record at Adelaide in the second ODI, scheduled for Thursday.

When Kohli comes out to bat on Thursday, he will have the opportunity to surpass former skipper MS Dhoni’s record for the most runs scored by an Indian batter in the 50-over format at Adelaide Oval on October 23.

Dhoni has scored 262 runs in six games he played at Adelaide Oval, and Kohli has 244 runs in four games. He needs 19 runs to become the leading scorer at the venue in 50-over matches.

Kolkata, Oct 22: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has submitted a charge sheet in the primary teachers’ recruitment corruption case, alleging that many job aspirants were denied teaching positions despite paying substantial sums to influential individuals, investigation agency sources confirmed on Wednesday.

The central probe agency’s charge sheet, filed before a local court, claims that ‘fake interviews’ were conducted for those job seekers who allegedly paid money. The agency leveled these specific allegations against Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya and a former party leader, Bibhas Adhikari.

Giving details about the functioning of the alleged mechanism, sources in the CBI claimed that Adhikari allegedly collected crores of rupees from job seekers on behalf of Bhattacharya.

The CBI recently filed the charge sheet in the primary teachers’ recruitment corruption case before the Bankshal court.

According to the document, agents linked to Bibhas Adhikari were deployed across the state to collect money from the job aspirants. The funds collected by these agents were allegedly routed to Bhattacharya through this close aide, Adhikari.

The charge sheet also names former secretary of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, Ratna Chakraborty. The CBI said in the charge sheet that she acted on the instructions of Bhattacharya in matters related to the alleged irregularities.

It may be recalled that Bhattacharya served as the president of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education, while Adhikari was the former Trinamool Congress president of Nalhati Block II in Birbhum district of the state.

Ratna Chakraborty was the secretary of the primary education board during Bhattacharya’s tenure. The CBI alleged that all three accused were closely involved in the primary teachers’ recruitment scam.

Bhattacharya was earlier arrested in connection with the case and is presently out on bail. Adhikari appeared multiple times before the CBI in the same matter. He was recently arrested in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, for allegedly operating a fake police station.