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India vice-captain Smriti Mandhana becomes the first ever player to be picked in Women’s Premier League (WPL) auction. Mandhana was picked for Rs 3.4 crore by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) after an intense bidding war with Mumbai Indians (MI) franchise.
In men’s IPL, legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne was the first player to be picked. Warner was picked by Rajasthan Royals (RR). The leggie went on to lead Royals to the title win in inaugural season. Warne was picked for 450,000 US Dollars.
RCB Director of Cricket Mike Hesson explained why they went big after Indian opener Mandhana.
"Everyone knows Mandhana and (Australia's Elysse) Perry -- Rs 1.7 crore); we were pretty committed to the couple of people we wanted to get. We're very happy to get such quality players. It's a dream result for us to get Mandhana, Perry and (Sophie) Devine (Rs 50 lakh)," Hesson said during a media interaction.
"Smriti has got plenty of captaincy experience and is familiar with the Indian conditions, so highly likely (she'll be the captain)."
Mandhana who is currently in South Africa for the ongoing T20 World Cup was ecstatic after getting picked by fan-favourite RCB. She was congratulated by her teammates in a video that has gone viral.
"We have been watching auction of men's (players). It is such a big moment for women to have an auction of this sort. The whole thing is exacting. RCB's legacy is big, they have built a big fan-base. Hope we both can together build a big team," said the opener who missed the Indian vs Pakistan due to finger injury.
Apart from Mandhana and Australian all-rounder Perry, RCB spent big on pacer Renuka Singh (Rs 1.5 crore) and wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh (Rs 1.9 crore)
