Smriti Mandhana and Richa Ghosh were the only two Indian cricketers who were drafted in The Hundred Women's tournament for the upcoming season of the tournament. The draft, which was conducted on March 20, saw several high-profile names remain unsold in the draft. Mandhana was drafted by Southern Brave while Ghosh was picked up by the Birmingham Phoenix. The Hundred competition is slated to begin on July 23.
Mandhana, Richa part of the WPL-winning RCB team
Smriti Mandhana led the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to their maiden Women's Premier League (WPL) title recently. With the bat, the elegant left-handed batter scored 300 runs in 10 matches with the help of two half-centuries. Mandhana has featured in The Hundred competition before and she played for Southern Brave.
Richa Ghosh was also part of the RCB team that won the WPL title. The wicketkeeper-batter displayed her potential to score boundaries at will and proved herself to be a solid finisher. In the 2024 WPL competition, the right-handed batter scored 257 runs at a strike rate of 142 in 10 matches. Richa registered two half-centuries in the tournament.
Richa has featured in The Hundred competition before but she will make her debut for the Birmingham Phoenix this season. She earlier played for the London Spirit.
Harmanpreet Kaur among 15 Indians who went unsold
A total of 17 Indian cricketers registered their names in the The Hundred Women's competition out of which only Smriti Mandhana and Richa Ghosh were the only two who found bidders. Indian women's team captain Harmanpreet Kaur went unsold in the draft while stars like Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharms and Shreyanka Patil also found no suitors.
Do unsold players have a chance to feature in The Hundred?
Players who went unsold during the draft still have an outside chance of being picked by the teams for the tournament. All teams in The Hundred have the luxury to sign one more overseas player through the Vitality Wild Cards. Indian stars like Harmanpreet, Deepti and Shreyanka would hope that the teams reach out to them through their Wild Cards.
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