With the Women's Premier League (WPL) auction edging closer, one-star wicketkeeper-batter has revealed her favourite team in the competition, which, ironically, was the same team in which her husband had made her debut!
Australia's Alyssa Healy, who has won multiple accolades and is a superstar in her own right, is sure to be one of the most sought-after players to go under the hammer in the upcoming WPL auction, reported to take place between February 12-14. Speaking at the Australia Cricket Awards, Healy said that it would be nice to play the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the inaugural season of the WPL. Interestingly, Healy's husband, Mitchell Starc, also played for RCB.
“It is going to be a very exciting period of 12 months, it’s going to be tough but exciting. (On WPL auction) Beggars can't be choosers, I reckon. I’m in the auction so we’ll see where I’ll end up but it will be a nice touch to go to RCB,” said Healy.
On Wednesday, January 25, the BCCI announced that Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Lucknow won the bids to have franchises in their cities for the WPL, spending a total of Rs 4669.99 Crore on the glitzy league. Of these, RCB paid ₹901 crore for Bangalore.
Among the other teams from the newly-formed leagues are — Adani Group, with a bid of ₹1289 crores won the rights for Ahmedabad; followed by Mumbai Indians, who will own Mumbai for a bidding amount of ₹912.99 crores on a 10-year license. The other three winners are Capri Global for ₹757 crore and JSW Group for ₹810 crore. Capri Global will own Lucknow and JSW Group bagged Delhi.
Meanwhile, the auction of players for the WPL 2023 is likely to take place on February 12, Sports Tak has learned.
"After finalising the five teams for WPL 2023, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is now mulling on staging the player auction as soon as possible," a source told Sports Tak.
"Since the teams are finalised, the focus is now focussed on staging the auction in mid-February, likely on February 12 in Mumbai. The inaugural edition of the WPL will likely have 22 matches, all of them being held in Mumbai with the tournament opener likely to be played on March 05 and final likely to be scheduled for March 26," the source added.
