The inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction was conducted in Mumbai on February 13, 2023, marking the beginning of a new era in women’s cricket and one of the most significant days in cricket history.
A significant price was paid for the Indian players as a result of fierce bidding wars amongst the franchises. Numerous young players will have the opportunity to share the dressing room with some of the best in the game alongside learning some new tactics. A total of 409 players went under the hammer in the historic women’s auction, and a few of them managed to make a lucrative addition to their bank account. Let’s look at the top three players from India who have made significant gains at the auction:
- Smriti Mandhana
Smriti Mandhana made history by becoming the first player to be sold at the auction for the much-awaited T20 event, which will be held in Mumbai from March 3 to 26, 2023. She also emerged as the most expensive player at the WPL 2023 auction.
The top-Indian batter received a massive bid of INR 3.60 crore from Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Mandhana was also appointed as the captain in the evening yesterday. RCB acquired the vice-captain of India after Mumbai Indians (MI) retracted their bid.
- Deepti Sharma
Deepti Sharma, the Indian allrounder, will compete for her home team, UP Warriorz. She was sold to Warriorz for INR 2.60 crore. The 25-year-old has been one of the T20I format’s most reliable players, recently.
- Jemimah Rodrigues
One of India’s most important batters, Jemimah Rodrigues, was onboarded for a total of INR 2.20 crore by Delhi Capitals (DC). In India’s recent triumph against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup, Jemimah played a match-winning knock.
Along with the aforementioned players at the auction, Shefali Verma was also bought for INR 2 crore. All-arounders Richa Ghosh and Pooja Vastrakar also made huge sums thanks to the bids of INR 1.90 crore each from RCB and MI.