India opener Smriti Mandhana broke bank early as she became the first pick in the Women’s Premier League auction history, being bought by the Royal Challengers Bangalore for 3.40 Cr. The second costliest Indian player so far is all-rounder Deepti Sharma who was bought by UP Warriorz for Rs 2.6 crore.
However, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur came much cheaper for Mumbai Indians at nearly half the price of Mandhana at Rs 1.80 crore. Delhi Capitals get their first player of the auction as they successfully bid for Jemimah Rodrigues at Rs 2.2 crore. Indian opener and U-19 T20 World Cup winning captain Shafali Verma gets a successful bid of Rs 2 crore by Delhi Capitals.
One of the prominent picks during the first round was Australia’s off-spin all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner, who was bought by Gautam Adani-owned Gujarat Giants for Rs 3.20 crore.
Star Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry received a cool Rs 1.70 crore winning bid from RCB who also got New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine dirt cheap at base price of Rs 50 lakh.
RCB has already exhausted Rs 5.60 crore out of Rs 12 crore purse and they need to get another 12 players with the rest of the Rs 6.40 crore to have a mandatory squad size of 15 players. UP Warriorz also got England left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone on board for Rs 1.80 crore
Our senior cricket reporter Devendra Pandey is covering the WPL auction from the venue.
High Intensity 🚨!
Scenes from the #WPLAuction 👍
Which teams' picks have impressed you the most so far? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/L4OVjOnpei
— Women's Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) February 13, 2023
Top ten most expensive buys
- Smriti Mandhana (RCB) – USD 415,000
- Ashleigh Gardner (Gujarat) – USD 390,000
- Natalie Sciver-Brunt (MI) – USD 390,000
- Deepti Sharma (UP) – USD 317,000
- Jemimah Rodrigues (Delhi) – USD 268,000
- Beth Mooney (Gujarat) – USD 244,000
- Shafali Verma (Delhi) – USD 244,000
- Pooja Vastrakar (MI) – USD 232,000
- Richa Ghosh (RCB) – USD 232,000
- Sophie Ecclestone (UP) – USD 220,000
