Highlights:
- In the Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction, India’s Smriti Mandhana was the most expensive player, bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore for INR 3.40 crore.
- 10 other players also received bids of over INR 1 crore.
- The tournament will feature five teams and will take place in Mumbai from March 3 to 26.
At the inaugural Women’s Premier League auction, which saw five teams pay Rs 59.50 crore on 87 players, India vice-captain and opener Smriti Mandhana was the most expensive player.
The much awaited T20 tournament, which will take place in Mumbai from March 3 to 26 and feature the 5 teams Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, UP Warriorz, and Gujarat Giants, will pit these teams against one another.
The Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction kicked off with a notable bid of INR 3.40 crore for India’s vice-captain, Smriti Mandhana, who will be joining the Royal Challengers Bangalore. In addition, 10 other women’s team players from India received impressive bids of over Rs 1 crore in the Women’s Premier League 2023.
The Indian team, which is now in South Africa for the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, could be seen applauding and cheering as the auction carried out.
Deepti Sharma joined UP Warriorz for Rs 2.60 crore, Jemimah Rodrigues, India’s match-winner against Pakistan, was sold for Rs 2.20 crore, and captain Shafali Verma, who won the Under-19 T20 World Cup, joined DC for Rs 2 crore. These are just a few of the top bids for Indian players.
All-rounder Pooja Vastrakar joined the Mumbai Indians for Rs 1.90 crore, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur was signed by the Mumbai Indians for Rs 1.80 crore, fast-bowler Renuka Singh was chosen by RCB for Rs 1.5 crore, the Mumbai Indians paid Rs 1.5 crore for Yastika Bhatia, and Devika Vaidya joined the UP Warriorz for Rs 1.4 crore.
The loudest room in Bengaluru too. Renuka is a Royal Challenger ??#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #WPL2023 #WPLAuction
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) February 13, 2023
pic.twitter.com/InfLbyOdgI
The overseas players also attracted high bids, with top offers including Ashleigh Gardner of Australia, who was picked up by the Gujrat Giants for Rs 3.20 crore. England’s Natalie Sciver was acquired by the Mumbai Indians for the same amount. Beth Mooney of Australia also secured a lucrative bid of Rs 2 crore to join the GG team. Sophie Ecclestone of England was signed by the UP Warriorz for Rs 1.80 crore, while Australia’s Ellyse Perry was bought by RCB for Rs 1.70 crore.
From the allotted budget of Rs 60 crore, the five teams spent a total of Rs 59.50 crore. For the 2023 WPL, UPW signed 16 players, MI and GG signed 17, and DC and RCB built teams with 18 players at full strength.
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Top 10 most expensive players in WPL 2023 Auction:
- RCB signed Smriti Mandhana for Rs 3.4 crore
- Ashleigh Gardner was bought by GG for Rs 3.2 crore
- Natalie Sciver joined MI for Rs 3.2 crore
- UPW secured Deepti Sharma for Rs 2.6 crore
- DC acquired Jemimah Rodrigues for Rs 2.2 crore
- GG signed Beth Mooney for Rs 2 crore
- Shafali Verma also fetched Rs 2 crore and joined DC
- MI acquired Pooja Vastrakar for Rs 1.9 crore
- RCB secured Richa Ghosh for Rs 1.9 crore
- Harmanpreet Kaur joined MI for Rs 1.8 crore