The inaugural Women’s Premier League(WPL) player auction held in Mumbai on Monday saw 87 players from five teams. Out of the – 30 of whom were international cricketers, with an auction total of INR 59.5 crore of the bottom price.
Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana was the most expensive pick at INR 3.4 million when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) grabbed her. Smriti was also the first player to participate in the auction. Australia’s off-spin all-rounder Ashley Gardner and England’s vice-captain Nat Cyber Brandt, at INR 3.2 million each, were the biggest buyers abroad. Nat Cyber Brand was captured by the Mumbai Indians while Ashley went to the Gujarat Giants. Bangalore also bought New Zealand captain Sophie Devine at a base price of Rs.50 lakh and top Australian all-rounder Elise Perry for Rs.1.7 lakh. (Read Also: Women’s T20 World Cup 2023: India beats Pakistan)
They also added up Indian slugging wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh (a member of the U19 Women’s T20 World Championship winning campaign) for her Rs. 1.9 crore. Also won the pacer Renuka Thakur for Rs. 1.5 crore.
In the final stage of the auction, Bangalore acquired England captain Heather Knight for his Rs. 40,000, while Australian pacesetter Megan Shutt won the same amount. They also acquired South African regular captain and all-rounder Dane van Niekerk for INR 30,000.
The Indians from Mumbai were unable to take on the services of Smriti, defeating the challenge of Bangalore and Delhi Capitals to buy Indian captain Harman Preet Kaur for his INR 1.8 million. After moving to Nat, Mumbai acquired Indian regulars for Rs. 1.9 crore in all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar and Rs 1.5 crore in wicketkeeper-batsman Yastika Bhatia.
They also picked up New Zealand leg-spin all-rounder Amelia Kerr for INR 100 million and West India captain Haley Matthews for INR 400 crore. Mumbai also picked up Australian pace all-rounder Heather Graham for INR 30,000, South African all-rounder Chloe Tryon for INR 30,000, and England pacer Issyk Wong for INR 30,000. The Pricefor Indian all-rounder Amanjot Kaur was INR 50,000.
Off-spin all-rounder Deepti Sharma was the second highest-paid Indian player with a salary from UP Warriorz of Rs. 2.6 crore in the WPL Auction. The team spent a lot of money to acquire Australian fast bowling all-rounder Talia McGrath and Indian all-rounder Devika Vaidya for his £1.4 billion each. Gujarat and Delhi both wanted England left-handed spinner Sophie Eccles’s tone.But the Warriors got her for Rs. 1.8 crore and Australian wicketkeeper Alyssa Healey for Rs. 700 crores.
He then acquired compatriot Grace Harris.
Lower-level power hitter Kiran Navgaia was also bought by the Warriors for her Rs. 300,000, as was England pacesetter Lauren Bell. Warriors won Anjali Sarvani (INR 55 lakh), Rajeshwari Gayakwad (INR 40 lakh), U19 World Champion Parshavi Chopra (INR 10 lakh), Shweta Sehrawat (INR 40 lakh) and S Yashasri (INR 10 lakh).
Derry Capitals have not signed in his two-tent set in the first. They finally opened their account in the third set, with India’s U19 Women’s T20 World Cup winner Shafali Verma (INR 200 million) and Australia’s multiple World Cup winner Meg Lanning (INR 1.1). hundred million). English all-rounder Alice Capsey was bought by Delhi for INR 75,000, South African all-rounder Marisanne Cup was bought for the franchise for INR 1.5 billion and Australian left-arm spinner Jess Yonasen was bought for INR 45,000.
Delhi then acquired the US bowler and his only partner Taranoris at auction for his Rs. 100,000 to beat Bangalore to become an Australian all-rounder Laura Harris for 45 Lakhs and Indian leg spinner Poonam Yadav for 30 Lakh.
They got Indian players like Shikha Pandey (INR 60 lakh), Radha Yadav (INR 40 lakh), Taniya Bhatia (INR 30 lakh), Sneha Deepthi (INR 30 lakh), Arundhati Reddy (INR 30 lakh), and U19 Women’s T20 World Cup Player of the final Titas Sadhu (INR 25 lakh).
Followed by the signing of Ashleigh, Australia opener Beth Mooney was bought by Gujarat for INR 2 crore while England opener Sophia Dunkley was acquired for INR 60 lakh. They also made solid overseas buys in Annabel Sutherland (INR 70 lakh), Deandra Dottin (INR 60 lakh), and Georgia Wareham (INR 75 lakh).
In terms of Indian players, they got performers like Harleen Deol (INR 40 lakh), Sneh Rana (INR 75 lakh), Sabbhineni Meghana (INR 30 lakh), Mansi Joshi (INR 30 lakh), Dayalan Hemalatha (INR 30 lakh), Monica Patel (INR 30 lakh), Sushma Verma (INR 60 lakh), Hurley Gala (INR 10 lakh) and Shabnam Shakil (INR 10 lakh).
Some of the biggest names which went unsold at the auction were Laura Wolvaardt, Danni Wyatt, Alana King, Sune Luus, Lizelle Lee, Chamari Athapaththu, Suzie Bates, Darcie Brown, Lea Tahuhu, Katherine Sciver-Brunt, Tammy Beaumont and Stafanie Taylor. In terms of Indian players, Simran Dil Bahadur, Priya Punia, Soumya Tiwari, Archana Devi, Meghna Singh and Ekta Bisht were missing.
In terms of Indian players, they got performers like Harleen Deol (INR 40 lakh), Sneh Rana (INR 75 lakh), Sabbhineni Meghana (INR 30 lakh), Mansi Joshi (INR 30 lakh), Dayalan Hemalatha (INR 30 lakh), Monica Patel (INR 30 lakh), Sushma Verma (INR 60 lakh), Hurley Gala (INR 10 lakh) and Shabnam Shakil (INR 10 lakh).
