The glitzy Women's Premier League (WPL) auction started with pomp and show in Mumbai on Monday (February 13) where five franchises splurged big bucks to rope in their their favourite players for the slugfest which is slated to kick off from March 4. Many women cricketers turned millionairs in the glitzy auction, but India's star opening batter Smriti Mandhan hogged the most limelight. The flamboyant southpaw was acquired by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for a whopping sum of Rs 3.40 Crore after a tug of war with Mumbai Indias (MI). In a double bonanza Mandhana, who had initially set her base price for Rs 50 lakh, could also be seen captaining the Bengaluru-based franchise in the inaugural season of the WPL 2023.
After grabbing the jackpot deal Mandhana said, "We have been watching auction of men's. It is such a big moment for women to have an auction of this sort. The whole thing is exacting. (RCB ki legacy hi kaafi hai) RCB's legacy is big, they have built a big fan-base. Hope we both can together build a big team. Namaskara Bengaluru, excited to wear the red and gold and aim for the cup."
A video Smriti's reaction after bagging the whopping deal is going viral where she can be seen beaming and cheered on by her teammates when teams shelled out high bucks for her during the auction.
Here's the video..
Mandhana is a young and talented Indian cricketer who has made a name for herself in the international cricket arena. She is a left-handed batter and a former captain of the Indian women's cricket team. Mandhana is known for her aggressive batting style and has been a consistent performer in the T20I format.
Meanwhile, 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.
As far as overseas players are concerned, 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
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.
